IDF Declares Syrian Border Area A Closed Military Zone

Click here to watch: IDF Declares Syrian Border area a Closed Military Zone as Fighting nears Israeli Golan The IDF's Northern Command declared a closed military zone in the Quneitra Crossing area bordering Syria and the mountain range to the south of it in the Golan Heights for security reasons, the IDF Spokesman's Office said Sunday. The decision came amid fears that the fighting from the Syrian civil war is coming closer to Israel's border fence with Syria. In recent days, fighting between Syrian army soldiers and rebels has intensified, and according to estimates by military sources, decisive battles are taking place close to the border. The IDF fears that some of the fire will spill over and harm, among others, Israeli farmers working fields near the border. The Golan Regional Council added that it was getting updates from the army on the matter, but the daily routine of local residents had not changed in light of the situation assessment as of Sunday morning. Residents have, however, heard multiple explosions from the Syrian fighting. Evidence of the intensity of the Syrian fighting can also be seen in the flow of wounded Syrians who arrived in Israeli hospitals over the weekend for treatment. The IDF transported five Syrians wounded in the civil war to Ziv Hospital in Safed, including a 19-year-old Syrian in very serious condition and a moderately hurt 18-month-old baby. A total of 286 Syrians have been treated at Ziv Hospital. Assad regime loyalist military forces have been under siege in the border area near Israel for many months, and attempts by the Syrian army to reverse rebel victories in the region have so far been a failure. Watch Here According to assessments by IDF Northern Command, the Syrian army controls just two locations along the border with Israel – the town of Quneitra and the Druse region of Khader – with all remaining border areas under the control of a myriad of rebel groups, which include radical jihadi organizations like Nusra Front. Fierce battles have been raging at Tel Kudna, near the central Golan Heights, with inconclusive results thus far, according to army sources in northern Israel. The IDF watches closely as rebels and Syrian army forces attack one another every day. It continues to make preparations for the day when jihadi gunmen turn their sights southward, toward the Israeli border. “The pastoral scenery of the Golan Heights, awash with basalt and flowing streams, can change in a momentary bang to a battlefield of blood, fire and plumes of smoke,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz warned last October, in reference to the unstable and unpredictable nature of the Syrian border region, and the increase in terror groups in the area, including al-Qaida-affiliated groups, and Hezbollah, which sent units from Lebanon to fight for Syrian President Bashar Assad. As part of the military’s preparations, the IDF created the 210th territorial Bashan Division and deployed it to the border in recent months, in order to boost frontier security. Source: Jerusalem Post - Twelve Tribes Films