Israel evacuates Syrian volunteers stranded in border area

JERUSALEM – The Israeli army evacuated hundreds of members of the White Helmets, a Syrian volunteer organization, from the unstable border zone on the Golan Heights, and transported them to Jordan at the request of the United States. United and its European allies.

This is the first Israeli intervention of its kind in the long Syrian civil war, which now lasts eight years.

Jordan confirmed that 800 Syrian citizens entered its territory for resettlement in Western countries. White Helmets were stranded along the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights border following the Syrian government's latest offensive in southwestern Syria

The Israeli army has declared that the Israeli military operation was an "exceptional humanitarian gesture". The United States and its European allies because of "an immediate threat to life (Syrian)."

The army said its actions did not reflect a change in Israel's non-intervention policy in the Syrian war.

Syrians will remain in Jordan for three months before moving to Britain, Germany and Canada, said Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Kayed: "The request has been approved for purely humanitarian reasons "He added:

Raed Saleh, head of the Syrian Civil Defense as white helmets are also known, said that a number of volunteers and their families were evacuated from A dang besieged and besieged and had reached Jordan. The Associated Press first reported on Friday that US officials were finalizing plans to evacuate several hundred Syrian civil defense workers (19459006) and their families from southwestern Syria. Supported government forces have closed in Quneitra province along the Golan Heights.

According to the authorities, White Helmets, who benefited from the United States and other Western countries they regained control of the Southwest. The evacuation plans were accelerated after the NATO summit in Brussels

Since the beginning of the Syrian government's offensive in June, the Golan border zone has been the safest of the southwest of the country. along the line of disengagement with Israel, demarcated in 1974 after a war. Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967. Thousands of civilians have taken refuge near the border to escape the government's offensive

It is unlikely that the Syrian government will kill or launch air strikes for fear of An Israeli reaction.

Syrian forces continued their offensive, pounding the southern end of the southwestern region where a group affiliated with the Islamic State still holds territory.

The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said that the bombing – 130 air strikes since Saturday – about 10,000 are still trapped in the area controlled by militants, with their unknown fate.

White helmets generally operated in opposition-controlled areas across Syria, where government services are almost non-existent, voluntarily risking their lives to save hundreds of civilian lives during air strikes and bombings incessant government.

The government and Russia see the white Helme They have been accused of having organized rescue missions or chemical attacks.

Syrian public television Al-Ikhbariya reported the Israeli evacuation of White Helmets, calling it a "scandal" and saying "terrorist groups". Over the past month, Syrian government forces helped by the Russian Air Force have swept south-west Syria to consolidate government control over this strategic corner of the country that straddles the border with Syria. Jordan and the border. With its new advances, the government forces are, for the first time since the start of the civil war in 2011, resuming this territory to the rebels and restoring their positions along the line of disengagement on the Golan Heights. 19659002] Since the beginning of the offensive, Jordan has declared that it will not open its borders to newly displaced Syrians. Jordan is hosting at least 650,000 registered Syrian refugees, according to the UN, but Amman says that a similar number of undocumented Syrians are also in the kingdom.

During the last Syrian government offensive, which began on June 19, about 300,000 Syrians were displaced, heading to the sealed Israeli and Jordanian borders in what the UN declared to be the largest displacement since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

Some Syrians have chosen to be evacuated to the northern province of Idlib. Thousands of armed men and their families were evacuated over the weekend. According to the Observatory, two buses carrying evacuees were held by a pro-Syrian government militia, apparently after they left the road.

Panicked pbadengers, fearing for their lives, posted photos of the militia surrounding their buses on social networks. Al-Kayed, the Jordanian spokesman, said the transfer of the 800 Syrians did not subject the kingdom to any other obligations.

Israel has been sending aid to Syria for several years and has provided medical treatment to thousands of Syrians. the Golan Heights border. In the past two years, the Israeli army has reported delivering more than 1,500 tons of food, 250 tons of clothing and nearly one million liters of fuel.

The Israeli army said it would continue to those in need but will not allow a mbadive influx of refugees into the country.

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El Deeb reported from Beirut. Writer Associated Press Fares Akram in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

Aron Heller and Sarah El Deeb, The Associated Press