Last summer in the occupied Golan Heights, an Israeli military ambulance ferrying wounded fighters from across the border in Syria came under attack by Druze.
Rebel fighters had been inadvertently straying into Israeli-held territory for years. But these fighters in the ambulance were different: they were members of the Al Qaeda-linked Jabhat Al Nusra, which has been fighting Bashar Al Assad’s forces with varying degrees of success.
As the chaos of the Syrian civil war deepened, Al Nusra and other extremist groups have taken advantage of the security vacuum to rally support from external governments, reportedly including Turkey and the United States. Israel’s role in aiding these fighters, however, had been shrouded in secrecy until the episode on the Golan Heights.
As the Israeli ambulance sped towards a field hospital with two wounded Al Nusra fighters, it encountered a large group of Druze blocking the road. The Druze, a small Muslim sect who live in Syria, Israel and Lebanon, have been largely on the sidelines of the Syrian war but have remained loyal to Bashar Al Assad's government. Recently there has been sporadic fighting between the Druze and extremist groups like Al Nusra inside Syria.
In June, Druze in Syria alerted their brethren on the other side of the border that the Israeli army was treating Al Nusra fighters who had been wounded fighting the Druze. On the Golan Heights, Druze attacked the Israeli ambulance convoy with stones, eventually attacking the wounded fighters. When the dust settled, one Nusra fighter was killed and another was unconscious from the blows of the mob.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu then held a special meeting with Druze leaders to keep the situation under control. Despite the fact that this episode was reported extensively in local and foreign press, the Israeli army continues to deny its links to Al Nusra.
When Hizbollah operative Samir Kuntar was killed in an Israeli targeted assassination in Syria two weeks ago, Tel Aviv’s foothold in the conflict came under renewed inspection. Hafez Al Assad, who ruled Syria before his son, often joked that the Syrian-Israeli border in the Golan Heights was the quietest in the Middle East, but since the outbreak of civil war in 2011, things have steadily heated up.
While Israel has tried to keep its involvement in the Syrian war under wraps, there are several things we know about its participation. First and foremost, Israel has been carrying out air strikes against Hizbollah targets throughout Syria. Ostensibly, these air strikes are tailored to keep Hizbollah from obtaining Syrian chemical weapons.
In the 2006 Lebanon war, the Iranian-backed militia became the only Arab fighting force to unconditionally force Israel to retreat from Arab land occupied in the course of battle. Hizbollah has an extensive rockets cache that can reach any part of Israeli territory, as well as an elaborate network of underground bunkers in southern Lebanon that the Israeli military has never succeeded in fully destroying. It makes sense that Israel would want to keep Assad's chemical weapons out of Hizbollah's hands.
In Syria, Hizbollah has endured heavy losses; it is operating outside its normal strongholds in a country where it doesn’t have the support it enjoys in Lebanon, and the war appears to be wearing the group’s resources thin. In a sign of its dwindling human capital, the group has recently ratcheted up recruitment with promises of cash for new fighters.
For decades, Iran and its proxies have been Israel's primary enemies. Now that those groups are fighting a draining war in Syria, Israel is taking the opportunity to hit them with air strikes. An uneasy alliance between Israel and radical extremist groups fighting in the region – as last summer's episode on the Golan seemed to confirm – is not beyond comprehension.
There are, however, other geopolitical issues that raise questions concerning Tel Aviv’s true objectives in Syria, such as Israel’s alliance with Russia.
In October, Russia revealed that it was sharing intelligence about its air activities in Syria with Israel. Russia’s embassy in Tel Aviv said the country would not take any action that endangered Israel’s national security. Russia has taken an active role in the Syrian conflict to support the Assad regime and its only Mediterranean Sea port on the Syrian coast near Latakia. Israel’s tacit support or assistance to Al Nusra extremists poses a problem for the Assad regime and, by extension, the Russians.
In a sign of Tel Aviv's role, Russia's special envoy on Syria was reportedly in Israel at the weekend for secret talks on a diplomatic solution for the conflict.
All of this is not to mention Israel’s role in the sale and movement of oil through Turkey from fields controlled by the Kurds in Northern Iraq and ISIL in Syria. If proven, Israel’s covert purchase of ISIL’s oil puts the country at odds with all sides.
Tel Aviv has long tried to keep its foreign policy objectives hidden from view by neither confirming nor denying its involvement in critical events. While this strategy has worked well until this point, the situation on the ground is spiralling out of control and Israel’s influence will be easier and easier to detect on the ground.
The question is what will happen when the war ends. Will Israel be willing to end its occupation of Arab lands and create a lasting peace with the Palestinians when the Syrian conflict is over? If so, a new chapter of normalisation could be an ironic result of the great changes unfolding in the region. Or is Israel merely exploiting the chaos of war – a chaos from which it continues to benefit.
jdana@thenational.ae
On Twitter: @ibnezra
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Persuasion
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The biog
Favourite book: Animal Farm by George Orwell
Favourite music: Classical
Hobbies: Reading and writing
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
Engine: 4.0L twin-turbo V8
Gearbox: eight-speed automatic
Power: 571hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,000-4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.4L/100km
Price, base: from Dh571,000
On sale: this week
BLACK%20ADAM
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Company%20Profile
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Bob%20Marley%3A%20One%20Love
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Dubai World Cup draw
1. Gunnevera
2. Capezzano
3. North America
4. Audible
5. Seeking The Soul
6. Pavel
7. Gronkowski
8. Axelrod
9. New Trails
10. Yoshida
11. K T Brave
12. Thunder Snow
13. Dolkong
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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