Free Republic

With all eyes on Israel’s southern front where Hamas is desperately trying to conceal the fact it has run out of military options in its never ending war against the Jewish State, Hezbollah and the pro-Assad axis seem to be gearing up for the long anticipated confrontation with the IDF. Iranian and Israeli media reported last week that the pro-Assad coalition is preparing for an offensive against Islamist rebel groups in the Kuneitra and Daraa provinces in southern Syria. The pro-Assad axis, which includes Hezbollah and other Shiite militias, has reportedly deployed tanks and heavy artillery on the Syrian Golan...

Armin RosenSeptember 15, 2014 The UN is quietly pulling back from the parts of the peacekeeper-administered military disengagement zone separating the Israeli and Syrian-controlled sections of the Golan Heights. Reuters quotes an anonymous UN staffer as saying that "Staff in U.N. positions 10, 16, 31 and 37, as well as Camp Faouar on the (Syrian) side are being relocated." Twitter user and Israel-based blogger Judge Dan created a map of these positions based off of the UN's publically-available information on the location of the UN Disengagement Observer Force's various bases:(Click to the site to see the map) According to the...

In the event that an arms embargo on Syria is lifted next month, as might happen, Austria is threatening to withdraw its troops from the UNDOF observer force that has helped to maintain peace on the Golan for the last 40 years. With three of the other five countries who contribute troops to UNDOF having withdrawn in the last few months, Austria's 377 troops are the largest contingent of the roughly 1,000 troops who remain in the neutral zone on the Heights. But according to the Austrians, the mission is becoming impossible. If the embargo is lifted at the end...