Israel seeks buffer zone in Syria against Hezbollah and militias
MIDDLE EAST: Israel is pushing the United States and Russia to guarantee a buffer zone in southern Syria where Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed militias will not be allowed to operate, according to sources in the Middle East.
The Israelis have been on the sidelines of talks in Amman between the Americans and the Russians to negotiate the future of southern Syria.
Defence sources confirmed that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, had raised the issue of a buffer zone in talks with both President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin.
It would extend more than 50km east of the Golan Heights, well past the city of Deraa, which is the direct subject of the RussianUS talks.
The zone would touch upon the town of Suweida, which is in government hands and is home to a Druze community – as is the Golan Heights, formerly Syrian territory now occupied by Israel, which forms the frontier.
The proposal has raised fears of a return to the era of the ‘‘South Lebanon Army’’, when Israel carved out a secure zone on its northern border by hiring local militias.
That led to an Israeli presence in Lebanon for years.
The Amman talks are separate from those under way in Geneva, sponsored by the United Nations, and the ceasefire negotiations in the Kazakhstan capital, Astana, involving Turkey, Russia and Iran.
The number of different talks being held reflects the growing possibility that Syria will eventually be divided, with core regime areas, backed by Russia and Iran, being separated from other areas held by rebels and Kurdish-led groups backed by competing regional and international powers.
Much depends on Trump, who has not yet made clear whether he wants the US to play a long-term role in the future of Syria.
Israel fears the US might withdraw, leaving Iranian-backed militias such as Hezbollah to establish themselves in the south of the country, including along the Golan border.
The Netanyahu government is already supplying arms to a small group of fighters, the Brigade of Golan Knights, and trying to win the hearts and minds of Syrians by sending humanitarian aid and allowing the injured into Israel for treatment.
The number treated is thought to already be in the thousands.
One seriously wounded rebel fighter, Abu Khaled, described how he had been ferried over the 50-year-old ceasefire line and taken to a hospital in Nahariya. ‘‘There were 30 or 50 other Syrians being treated there already,’’ he said. ‘‘They treated me very well.’’
The connection to Israel would have been a public relations disaster for the rebels at an earlier stage of the war. However, with so many outside actors, and so little hope of a resolution, many people no longer care about geopolitics.
Fighting in Deraa has continued despite its being part of a ‘‘de-escalation zone’’ agreed upon in Astana.
Rebels say they are sceptical about the talks. ‘‘Everyone can see what the Russians are doing and how the guaranteeing countries are authorising the regime to kill more,’’ said Jihad al-Qataneh, of the al-Omari Battalion.
– The Times