In Syria’s Golan Heights buffer zone, residents fear Israel is grabbing land: NPR

Golan Heights, Quneitra Province, Syria – The Golan Heights is a rocky terrain dotted with olive trees and grazing cows, surrounded by snow-covered mountains. For most of his life, 50-year-old Khaled Ramadan lived a peaceful life here in the small village of Al Rawadi. But rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, swept into Syria’s capital Damascus in early December and overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s regime, leaving Ramadan uprooted and exiled. I did.

Ramadan said it was not HTS, but a completely different force that flowed into his village and drove him, his wife and two children out.

“Israeli tanks and bulldozers rolled in and there was gunfire at the house,” Ramadan said.

Since Assad’s ouster last month, Israeli forces have taken up new posts within the internationally patrolled buffer zone between Syria and Israel. There is a Ramadan village there.

Israel says its military presence in the Golan Heights border heights is essential to national security. As in Ramadan, Syrian villagers say Israeli forces have destroyed their homes, displaced residents and destroyed water mains and other infrastructure. “We didn’t have anything except these clothes,” says Ramadan.

Israel’s military did not respond to NPR’s request for comment on the village takeover.

Israel and Syria have been enemies for decades, fighting in conflicts including the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel captured parts of the Golan Heights and quickly destroyed dozens of settlements, which are considered illegal under international law. was established.

In 1973, Syria attempted to regain the heights of the Golan in a war waged between Egypt and Israel. Although unsuccessful, Israel and Syria agreed to sign a cease-fire, leading to a demilitarized buffer zone monitored by UN peacekeepers.

This buffer zone was taken over by the Israeli military after HTS took over in Damascus last month. At the same time, Israeli airstrikes destroyed multiple military facilities, including fighter jets and weapons caches, across Syria.

The same day, December 8, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood atop Mount Hermon in the occupied Golan Heights, wearing a body armor vest, and described the acquisition of the Buffer Zone as a “temporary defensive position.” ” he called. “Another suitable arrangement has been found.” He did not provide a withdrawal date. The United Nations called on Israel to withdraw.

Almost a week later, the Israeli government approved a plan to expand the Golan Heights settlement. Netanyahu has said he does not want a conflict with Syria but aims to double the Israeli population in the occupied territories. Currently, Golan Heights is home to approximately 20,000 Israeli settlers.

Some Syrians fear that Israel will use Syria’s fledgling government to seize land. And many villagers fear they will be evicted, as was the case in Ramadan.

Encounter with the army

The floor of Mayor Mohamed Emewet’s living room in the village of Jebat al-Kashab, Qunetra province, is covered with Middle Eastern carpets and warmed by a wood-burning stove in the middle of the room. The walls are lined with photos of men with impressive mustaches. his grandfather, uncle and relatives who fought against French colonialists in Syria a century ago.

Emriwet said Israeli forces entered his village on December 9, the day after Assad’s fall, and he wanted to meet the village elders, including himself. He and other elders met with two or three officers and a number of soldiers in the forest on the road near his village.

“They said, ‘We’re here to protect ourselves on our own,'” Emliewet told NPR. “They said, ‘After what happened on October 7th, we don’t trust anyone.’ “

The Israeli military was referring to the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The attack left nearly 1,200 people dead and about 250 taken hostage.

“They (Israeli forces) told us, ‘You have the weapons we want, and we are going to search your house,'” Emriwat said.

The mayor told the military that this would disturb his villagers and cause unrest, so he and other community members announced on Facebook and by word of mouth that people should lay down their weapons.

“And we gave it to them,” says Emry Wet.

Emreiwet sent word to the Interim Syrian Government about his encounter and says he was told that negotiations were underway with Israel to leave the buffer zone soon.

NPR asked both the Syrian Interim Government and the Israeli Foreign Ministry for updates, but neither responded.

“Israeli troops entering our villages means evacuation,” Emrewet said. “And no one is ready to do that.”

protest and anger

The Israeli military says it is carrying out “operational raids” to destroy and confiscate weapons.

This angered villagers who feared for their safety and led to protests in the Golan Heights area, which was entered by Israeli forces.

Abdulrahman Aqad, 17, is wrapped in a blanket and a warm coat on a lawn chair in the sun outside his home in the village of Sweesa.

He said that on December 25, a group of men and women from his village went to protest against the approaching Israeli army in large numbers.

“We were chanting, ‘Syria is free, and when Israel started filming, Israel went outside,'” Akkad told NPR.

Israeli forces fired into the crowd, he said, hitting him in both legs. Now he can’t walk.

The Israeli military told NPR that the soldiers “fired only warning shots in the air” after the crowd, which they told to retreat, continued to approach them.

Israeli tanks are just below

Mohamed Faroukh, 32, points to the street in the village of Al-Baath. About 300 yards away at the intersection is a sand-colored Israeli tank that rolled over a few days ago.

“The tanks come down the street every night, do a loop and then come back,” he says, pointing to the white tank tracks on the ground.

Faroukh says he got into an argument with an Israeli soldier who said he got too close to a checkpoint.

“I have a wife, a daughter, a mother. He said his daughter has nightmares of tanks rolling into the village.

He says he will have to make some tough decisions if the Israelis approach or occupy his village.

“There is no way I can live under Israeli occupation,” Farov says. “I’ll go pick myself up.”