Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Syrian Rebels Make Demands For Release of U.N. Peacekeepers in Golan Heights

Syrian rebels have issued a list of demands for the release of United Nations peacekeepers stationed on the Golan Heights between Syria and Israel.

The 45 Fijian troops from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force have been held captive for five days in an unknown location.

The rebels from the Nusra Front, which has ties to Al-Qaida, have demanded to be taken off the U.N. terrorist list, for humanitarian aid delivered to parts of the Syrian capital Damascus, and for compensation for three of its fighters it says were killed by U.N. officers during a shootout, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The U.N. reportedly has sent hostage negotiators to Syria.

Two units of Filipino peacekeepers escaped from the rebels after their positions in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria were surrounded.

Ireland announced Monday that it may not replace its 130 troops in the Golan Heights, due to the security issues.

New Irish troops are scheduled to replace the current troops at the mission next month, but they will not be sent in without “a full review and we have to get assurances about how the mission will change to adapt to the new realities,” Irish Defense Minister Simon Coveney said Monday in an interview on national television, Reuters reported.

Until then, Ireland is “not going to send any more troops to that mission,” Coveney said.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.