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Israel's Deepening Involvement with Syria's Rebels

(War on the Rocks) Elizabeth Tsurkov - While Israeli policymakers have sought to avoid entanglement in Syria, Israel is increasingly involved in supporting rebel militias in southern Syria. As Assad's regime stabilized, Russia spearheaded negotiations with the U.S. regarding the establishment of a deconfliction zone which abuts the Golan border fence. Russia agreed to prevent the presence of foreign Shia fighters within 5 to 7 km. from the Israeli border, but made it clear that the guarantee was only temporary. In late 2017, Israel began providing more military support to at least 7 rebel groups affiliated with the Free Syrian Army. This support came in the form of weapons, ammunition, and money to purchase weapons on the black market. Some of the groups were previously supported by the Military Operations Command, a CIA-directed center in Amman, which until January 2018 paid the salaries for tens of thousands of Free Syrian Army "Southern Front" fighters and provided them with materiel and ammunition. Israel's support is intended to protect the border area from encroachment by Iranian proxies, but also to enable the rebels to more effectively fight the local ISIS affiliate, Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Walid. Syrian rebels say Israel's support includes drone and precision missile strikes on ISIS targets in the Yarmouk basin. Israel also increased the flow of humanitarian aid into southern Syria in recent months, sending construction materials and supplies for schools and hospitals. The writer is a research fellow at The Forum for Regional Thinking in Israel.
2018-02-20 00:00:00
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