U.N. Forces Based On The Golan Heights Receiving Protection Kits Against Chemical Weapons

United Nations provides its peace-keepers in Syria with gear protecting them from chemcial weapons. (Reuters)

U.N. Forces In Syrian Golan Receive Protection Kits Against Chemical Weapons -- Al Bawaba

The United Nations is providing its peace-keepers in the Syrian Golan Height with kits to protect them from chemical weapons that could be used in the Syrian conflict, a U.N. official told reporters on Monday.

U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous said U.N. forces were having an “increasing difficulty in fulfilling its mandate under very serious security conditions.” He told reporters that his department has taken measures to enhance their safety.

“We have redeployed to the area of UNDOF a number of armed vehicles that were with other Missions in the region,” Ladsous said.

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My Comment: The UN is expecting tensions to escalate on the Golan Heights .... with the French even warning of collapse. What`s my take .... a lot of people are expecting Syria`s civil war to get worse .... with even a chance that chemical weapons may be used.

For The First Time In 40 years, Syrian Tanks Have Crossed Into The Golan Demilitarized Zone

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3 Syrian Tanks Cross Into Golan Demilitarized Zone, Israel Raises Alert -- Times of Israel

The Israeli army, which has been braced for Syrian fighting spilling into Israel, reports the incident to UN peacekeepers.

The Israeli army said three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights on the Israel-Syrian border Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces raised its alert level in the Northern Command area, and a military spokeswoman said Israel complained to the U.N. peacekeeping force in the area after the tanks entered.

The incident — the first such violation in 40 years — was not regarded as an incident of hostility toward Israel. Rather, the Syrian tanks were apparently facing off against Syrian rebel forces. Nonetheless, Syrian-Israeli relations are relentlessly fraught, and any border incident raises tensions.

Hebrew news site Ynet said there were reports that two Syrian armored personnel carriers also crossed into the zone.

The Syrian army vehicles were deployed just a few miles away from Israeli military positions.

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More News On Syrian tanks Entering The Golan Demilitarized Zone

Israel: 3 Syria tanks enter Golan demilitarised zone -- Reuters
Three Syrian tanks enter Golan Heights buffer zone -- Jerusalem Post
3 Syrian tanks enter demilitarized zone along Golan Heights -- L.A. Times
Israel: Syria tanks enter Golan Heights DMZ -- CBS/AP
Syrian Tanks Enter Golan Heights Buffer Zone -- RIA Novosti
Israel complains to UN over Syrian tanks in Golan zone -- AFP
Israel complains about Syrian tanks along Golan Heights border -- L.A. Times
Israel complains over Syrian tanks in Golan Heights -- Deutsche Welle
IDF raises alert level after Syrian tanks enter demilitarized zone -- YNet News

Was There A Secret U.S.-Mediated Peace Plan That Would Have Made Israel Give Back The Golan Heights To Syria?

Netanyahu Denies Plan To Give Golan Heights Back To Syria After Newspaper Report -- National Post

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied a newspaper report on Friday that said he had agreed in principle to hand back land annexed from Syria as part of secret U.S.-mediated peace talks that broke off last year.

Syria has long set a complete withdrawal from the Golan Heights as a condition for making peace with the Jewish state. Israel captured the strategic plateau in a 1967 war, then annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally.

Israeli leaders had consented to at least partial Golan pullbacks in past talks with Syria, though none had gone as far as Netanyahu in agreeing to withdraw to the northeastern shores of the biblical Sea of Galilee, the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth daily said.

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More News On Reports That Israeli PM Netanyahu Was Prepared To Give The Golan Heights Back To Syria

PM, Barak deny agreeing to Golan withdrawal -- Jerusalem Post
Barak: We didn't Offer Syria the Golan -- Arutz Sheva
Herzog to NYT: There was no Golan agreement -- Jerusalem Post
Netanyahu denies Golan pullout offer for Syria peace -- AFP
Netanyahu told Assad: I'm ready to discuss Golan withdrawal, if you cut Iran, Hezbollah ties -- Haaretz
Netanyahu prepared to hand back Golan Heights to Syria in return for peace, say reports -- The Independent

My Comment: I have doubts that such talks ever took place. Israeli-Syrian relations have been in the "toilet" for years .... the idea that they would start talking and Israel would give up on the Golan Heights .... hmmmm .... noway. Anyway .... all of this speculation is now moot. Syria is in the middle of a horrific civil war, and when finished we may have a country that is not only fractured into sectarian parts, but there will be no central government for Israel to talk to.