Major Clashes Along Syria’s Border with Israel

Rebels Predict They Will Soon Have Total Control of Border Area

Syrian rebels are reporting that the Assad government’s forces are on the brink of collapse in the area around the armistice line between Syria and Israeli-occupied Golan, saying they believe they will soon have total control of the region.

The military has been shelling several rebel-held villages recently in an attempt to unseat the fighters who have flocked to the area, just the latest in a series of efforts to gain control over all borders.

Rebels initially had claimed the push into Golan was about forcing the Syrian military to stretch itself thinner, but the military has mostly declined to add ground troops to the area and is instead trying to use artillery to keep the rebels off balance.

While the rebels have used control over the Turkish border to import weapons, and control over parts of the Lebanese and Iraqi borders to reduce supply lines for government forces, the control over the Israel border region appears to be of little practical value, and with Israeli officials reportedly eying this region as a new “buffer zone” to occupy, it could bring the rebels into direct conflict with Israel.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.