Beyond Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, Israel now appears to have set its sights as well on the festering conflict with Syria, constructing developments in a critical buffer zone between the two countries in violation of a previous ceasefire agreement and sparking fears of further conflict escalation in the region.
Last week, the Associated Press published aerial footage of Israel building along the Alpha Line, which delineates a demilitarized zone or area of separation between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Images taken on November 5 by Planet Labs PBC for AP showed about 4.6 miles of construction by Israeli forces along the line.
“In recent months, [the UN Disengagement Observer Force] UNDOF has observed some construction activity being carried out by the IDF along the ceasefire line,” a UN peacekeeping spokesperson told RS. “The IDF construction of ditches and berms appears to prevent movements across the ceasefire line of individuals from the area of separation. UNDOF has observed that, during the construction, in some instances, IDF personnel and Israeli excavators and other construction equipment, and the construction work encroach into the area of separation.” ….more