UN sounds alarm at Israel’s ‘severe violations’ at key buffer zone with Syria
CNN
The United Nations has accused Israel of “severe violations” of a 50-year-old agreement with Syria, saying it has engaged in “engineering groundwork activities” that encroach on a key buffer zone in the Golan Heights.
The United Nations has accused Israel of “severe violations” of a 50-year-old agreement with Syria, saying it has engaged in “engineering groundwork activities” that encroach on a key buffer zone in the Golan Heights. “Violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement have occurred where engineering works have encroached into the AoS (the area of separation),” the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which has maintained the ceasefire between Israel and Syria since 1974, said in a statement Tuesday. Satellite imagery from Planet Labs and the European Space Agency shows that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been conducting excavation activity near Jubata Al Khashab, Syria since mid-August. A large earthen berm, roughly 40 feet (12 meters) wide, is being dug. The trench now stretches almost five miles (eight kilometers). Work on extending the trench even further is continuing, according to recent satellite imagery. In a Planet Labs image taken on November 5, an excavator and other vehicles can be seen working. The “extensive engineering groundwork activities” run along the so-called Alpha Line that separates Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, UNDOF said, adding that the construction began in July and includes the use of “excavators and other earth-moving equipment with protection from armored vehicles and soldiers.” Main battle tanks of the IDF were also occasionally present in the demilitarized zone, violating the 1974 agreement.
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