News

Syria Withdraws Troops From Golan Heights as Rebel Groups Move In

Syria’s government has withdrawn a significant number of troops from the Golan Heights, raising Western concerns.

The redeployment of Syrian troops is the most significant in 40 years, the British daily The Guardian reported.

Rebel groups have moved into the area, leading to Israeli fears that the rebels could attack its northern border.

“They [the Syrian government] have moved some of their best battalions away from the Golan,” said a Western diplomatic source of the Syrian changes, The Guardian reported. “They have replaced some of them with poorer-quality battalions, which have involved reducing manpower. The moves are very significant.”

The troop withdrawal also could endanger the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, or UNDOF, according to the newspaper. Several countries with peacekeepers in the force reportedly are considering withdrawing their troops, including Austria. Croatia withdrew its troops in February.

“UNDOF is of the highest importance, now more than ever,” said one senior Israeli government official. “We know some participant countries are having second thoughts and we’re concerned about that.

“We are talking to them to try to understand what they plan on doing if the going gets rougher. We know some are hesitating, and it’s a problematic situation.”

Gunfire from Syria has struck Israeli territory several times, and Israel has retaliated with missile fire three times.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO