Anees Suheil Barghouti
29 June 2018•Update: 29 June 2018
JERUSALEM
The Israeli army said Friday that it had sent humanitarian aid to displaced Syrians who have converged near Israel’s northern border following a series of airstrikes carried out by the Assad regime and its allies on cities and towns in Syria’s southern Daraa province.
“Last night, in a special operation, humanitarian aid was transferred to Syrians fleeing hostilities [in Daraa] and are now living in tents in the Syrian Golan Heights,” the Israeli army said in a statement.
“As part of the hours-long operation, 300 tents were transferred, along with 13 tons of food, 15 tons of baby food, three pallets of medical equipment and medicine, and 30 tons of clothing and footwear,” the statement read.
The army went on to say it was “closely monitoring” events in southern Syria in preparation for a “variety of scenarios”.
On Thursday, a senior Israeli official said Israel would not allow “a single refugee” to enter Israeli territory but was prepared to offer humanitarian assistance.
“Israel will do what it can to help the refugees, short of allowing them into the country,” the official, who was not named, told Israel’s Channel 10.
For the last several days, Daraa has been subject to intense aerial bombardments and ground attacks, with Syrian regime forces -- backed by Shia militia groups -- capturing the towns of Busra al-Harir and Nahta.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
