A Merkava IV tank. FILE PHOTO: Rafael Advanced Defense Systems
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on July 10 that its tanks and artillery shelled sites of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the southern Syrian governorate of al-Qunitra that had violated the disengagement agreement.
The sites built in the Syrian Golan Heights represent a violation of the Agreement on Disengagement signed in 1974 between Israel and Syria, which concluded the war of 1973, the IDF said in a statement.
“The IDF considers the Syrian Army responsible for everything that happens in its territory and will not allow attempts to violate the disengagement agreement,” it added.
The agreement in question prevents the SAA from operating in a United Nations-observed buffer zone on the Syrian side of the front.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other news sources confirmed that the IDF shelled a key site of the SAA known as the Diriyah Regiments in the southern countryside of al-Qunitra, right on the front with the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan. No casualties were reported however.
Following the shelling, the IDF dropped leaflets over al-Qunitra warning the SAA against building any sites within the buffer zone, according to the London-based monitoring group.
Tensions rose between Israel and Syria after the outbreak of the war in the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip last October, which led to clashes between the IDF and the Syria-backed Hezbollah in nihboring Lebanon.
The IDF intensified strikes on the war-torn country in recent days. The ex-bodyguard of Hezbollah Secretary-General was killed by a strike that targeted his vehicle on an international highway near the capital, Damascus. The group responded by firing dozens of rockets from Lebanon into the Golan, killing two Israeli civilians.
Russian forces in Syria established a series of observation posts along the Golan front to deter Israel following the start of the war in Gaza.
Still, the IDF could escalate further against Syria, possibly by invading parts of al-Quneitra as an alternative for a costly operation against Hezbollah. Israel could use the 1974 agreement to justify such an invasion, which will be welcomed by its main ally, the United States. For over a decade now, Washington has been attempting to overthrow the Damascus government.
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