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Israel establishes closed military zone along Syrian border

Xinhua, June 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israel has established a closed military zone along its border with Syria in northern Golan Heights, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Tuesday in a statement.

The IDF said it is "following the fighting in Syria from up close" along with "developments on the border of the Golan Heights" and is acting "to safeguard security in the area."

A closed military zone is a regulation enabling military commanders to mark a territory that the public cannot enter or leave without approval for security purposes. The closed military zone announced on Tuesday is located in the eastern part of the Golan Heights near Majdal Shams.

The decision aims to prevent gatherings of people near the border fence and came after a week of protests by Druze from northern Israel calling on Israel to help their brethren in Syria who are persecuted by Islamist militants amid the country's ongoing civil war.

The Druze are a small Arab sect in the Middle East, based primarily in Lebanon, Syria and Israel which broke off from Islam in the 11th century. There are nearly 140,000 Druze living in Israel and maintain familial and cultural ties with their fellows in Syria and Lebanon.

Last week, 20 Syrian Druze were killed in an attack perpetrated by the Al-Nusra Front, an Al-Qaida affiliate in Syria.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli Chief of General Staff, Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset (parliament) that the IDF would act in the vicinity of the Syrian border if necessary in order to prevent the massacre of Syrian refugees, likely referring to Druze refugees, the Times of Israel website reported.

The Israeli military chief also expressed his concern regarding the fact that the civil war in Syria has drawn closer and closer to the Israeli border.

On Sunday, the Hebrew Walla news website reported Israel was conducting initial contacts with world countries, the United Nations and the Red Cross in order to create a "safe zone" for Druze refugees who fled from Syria.

Last week, the Ha'aretz daily reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the U.S. Chairman of Joint Chiefs, Staff General Martin Dempsey who visited Israel two weeks ago, to aid Syria's Druze minority. Endit