Syria Drives Rebels Out of UN Monitored Crossing Near Israel - East Idaho News
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Syria Drives Rebels Out of UN Monitored Crossing Near Israel

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GETTY 6713 SyriaTank?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1370593118286JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — The Syrian military continued its rejuvenated offensive on Thursday by taking back a United Nations monitored crossing near Israeli-held territory that had briefly fallen into rebel hands.

The operation came a day after government forces assisted by Hezbollah regained the town of Qusair close to the border of Lebanon.

Israeli military sources said on Thursday that the Syrians used tanks and armored vehicles to overrun the crossing in the vicinity of Quneitra after opposition forces had taken it over just hours earlier.

While Syrian heavy artillery in the demilitarized zone is a violation of longstanding ceasefire agreements, Israel won’t take action although it fears that a Syrian presence in the Golan Heights could be used as a launching pad to attack inside its borders.

The threat of more violence is also affecting the United Nations peacekeeping deployment in the Golan Heights, with Austria announcing Thursday that it was withdrawing its soldiers, a major setback since their troops encompass a third of the 900-member forces.

Canada, Croatia and Japan have already pulled their peacekeepers out because of the violence in the Golan Heights.

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