File photo
At least ten civilians, the majority of whom were children, were killed after a barrel bomb attack carried out by the Syrian regime and its allies targeted a school in the town of Ain Teineh, in the southwest province of Quneitra.
The Syrian regime army and its allies have taken control of the strategic hill overlooking the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as Assad pushes forward with an offensive to seize the remaining parts of the southwest from opposition fighters.
The region has been heavily bombed by Russian and Syrian regime airstrikes in the past two days as the army has moved closer to the Israeli border after gaining control of most of Daraa province in a military excursion that began last June.
The regime offensive has caused a major displacement crisis in Daraa, with an estimated 350,000 civilians fleeing the province in recent days towards areas near the Jordanian border.
Dozens of people walked on Tuesday from Syrian refugee encampments on the Golan Heights to Israel's nearby frontier fence, where they stopped some 200 metres (yards) away and were ordered by an Israeli soldier to turn back."You are on the border of the State of Israel. Go back, we don't want to hurt you," the soldier shouted in Arabic through a loudspeaker at the crowd, live Reuters TV footage showed.The Syrian army is pressing a Russian-backed offensive against oppositions in the area."Go back before something bad happens. If you want us to be able to help you, go back," an Israeli army officer on the Israeli side of a frontier fence told the crowd in Arabic through a megaphone. "Get a move on."A witness on the Syrian side of the frontier said people were seeking shelter wherever they could as the offensive drew closer to their location.The Syrians who approached the frontier fence stopped some 200 metres (yards) away, before an Israeli soldier told them to leave.Video: Syrian civilians approach Israeli frontier fence in Golan Heights"You are on the border of the State of Israel. Go back, we don't want to hurt you," the soldier shouted in Arabic through a loudspeaker at the crowd, live Reuters TV footage showed.The crowd, which included women and children, then walked back slowly towards the refugee encampment. Some stopped mid-way and waved white cloths in the direction of the Israeli frontier.
Syrian civilians approach Israeli frontier fence in Golan Heights
The opposition-held towns of Qusaiba, Sweisa and Ain Teineh were being bombarded into submission by the Assad regime and its allies.
Following peace talks held last year in Astana, Daraa and Quneitra were both designated as “de-escalation zones” in which acts of aggression are prohibited.
The opposition remains in control of most of the border-adjacent Quneitra province, however, the Daesh terror group still maintains a presence in the southern border pocket of Tasil.
Iranian “advisors” have maintained a presence in southern Syria at the behest of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to Hossein Jaberi Ansari, a special envoy for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.Ansari made the remarks following a Monday meeting in Beirut with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.In a statement released after the meeting by the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, Ansari was quoted as saying: “Iran’s continued presence in Syria will be determined based on the needs of the Syrian state and with full coordination between Damascus and Tehran”.He also referred to the issue of Lebanon’s large Syrian refugee population, which he described as “an absolute priority for us at this stage”.Ansari added: “We will soon see the tenth phase of the Astana peace talks in the [Russian] city of Sochi with the participation of the three guarantor states [i.e., Russia, Turkey and Iran]; the UN; and representatives of both the Syrian state and opposition”.Finding a swift political solution to Syria’s years-long crisis, he added, “will not only benefit Syria, but the entire region”.In recent weeks, Assad regime forces have carried out a wide-ranging offensive aimed at retaking opposition-held parts of southern Syria.After establishing control over most of the southern Daraa province, regime forces are now in the process of deploying troops along Syria’s border with Jordan.
Iranian advisors still in southern Syria: Rouhani envoy