ISIS On Israel’s Border As Rebel’s Take Control Of Syrian Side Of Golan Heights

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The entire Syrian side of the Golan Heights is now under the control of rebel forces, including radical Islamist groups, a senior Israeli military commander in the area reported to The Times of Israel.

Virtually the entire Syrian side of the Golan Heights is now under the control of rebel forces, including radical Islamist groups, a senior Israeli military commander in the area said Friday.

ISIS-takes-syrian-side-of-golan-heights-on-israel-border

Smoke rises from a fire as a result of fighting in the the Syrian village of Quneitra near the border with Israel.

One of two Syrian army brigades that used to control the area has completely disappeared, the officer said.

As of Friday, only the Quneitra border area is still in the hands of forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, Lt.-Col. Anan Abbas, deputy commander of the Golan Brigade, reported to Israel’s Channel 10.  The majority of the Syrian side of the Golan is in the hands of anti-Assad rebels, including radical Islamic groups such as the Al-Nusra Front, affiliated with al-Qaeda, a rival of the burgeoning Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, better known as ISIL or ISIS.

The Golan Heights is a strategic plateau on the Israeli-Syrian border. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 war, having been attacked from the Golan over the previous 20 years, and extended Israeli law to the area in 1981. Unsuccessful peace efforts over the years have seen Israel ready to trade most of the Golan for a permanent accord with Damascus, but the notion of Israeli-Syrian peace has all but disappeared as Syria collapsed into anarchy over the past three years of civil war.

Photo courtesy of The Times of Israel 

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