How seriously should Israel take Syria’s Golan Heights threat?

(Worthy News) - Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem addressed the UN General Assembly on Saturday with a focus on what the regime intends to do about the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. He declared that Damascus aims to recapture the territory from Israel after Syrian regime forces have retaken areas opposite the Israeli border during a recent Russian-backed offensive.

In recent months, the regime has recaptured most of the country after a bloody seven-year war that pitted pro-regime forces, including the regime’s army, Russia, and Iran-backed groups like Hezbollah, against anti-regime Sunni rebel fighters. The conflict has left more than 350,000 people dead—although estimates vary widely; the number could be closer to 500,000—and displaced millions.

Aside from declaring Syria victorious in the war and praising the “defiance” of the Syrian people and army, the foreign minister also accused Israel of assisting “terrorist organizations” fighting the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad. One common tactic of the regime is to refer to Israeli airstrikes in Syria or Jerusalem’s support of rebel fighters as acts of “terrorism.” It reserves the same rhetoric for rebel groups, lumping them together with Islamic State or al-Qaida fighters who sided with the rebels during the war. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More...) ]