Syria

Syria’s Golan Height protesters slam Israel’s support for al-Nusra

 

People in the occupied parts of Syria’s Golan Heights have held a protest to condemn what they called Israel’s support for anti-Damascus terrorists.

The demonstrators accused Israel of backing al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, previously known as al-Nusra Front, during its assault on the government-held village of Hader in the countryside of Quneitra.

Israeli forces were deployed to the area to disperse the protesters.

On Friday, a car bombing by the al-Nusra Front terrorist group killed at least nine people and injured 23 others in Hader.

According to Syrian state media, rockets and gunfire followed the bombing in Hader, close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Local Syrian sources described the attack as the biggest yet in the area, saying the terrorists used new routes in their assault which were reportedly opened by the Israeli army.

Residents of the occupied parts of Syria’s Golan Heights hold a protest on November 3, 2017 after they heard about an al-Nusra Front attack against the nearby Syrian village of Hader. (AFP photo)

 

Israel is widely believed to be harboring and supporting anti-Syrian government militants who have been wreaking havoc along Syria’s southwestern border regions.

In June, Syrian military sources said Israel’s airstrikes on the Golan Heights coincided with a push by Nusra terrorists against army positions, which was aborted.

Israel regularly hits positions held by the Syrian army in the Golan Heights, describing the attacks as retaliatory after rockets fired mysteriously land in the occupied territories. Syria says the raids aim to help Takfiri militants fighting against government forces.

The rocket attacks are also believed to be coordinated, with Israel always holding the Syrian government accountable and using them as a pretext to respond even though the projectiles always land in open fields.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in June expressed concerns about a spike in contacts between the Israeli military and Syria militants, saying it could lead to escalation and cause harm to UN observers deployed to the Golan Heights.

The Wall Street Journal said in the same month that Israel had been providing Takfiri terrorists in Syria’s Golan Heights with a steady flow of funds and medical supplies.

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