One was wounded as Israeli troops opened fire on Syrian protesters Dec. 20 near the village of Maariyah, in southern Daraa province. Local residents gathered at a position the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had established in the area, chanting "Free, free Syria; Israel get out!" One protester was shot in the leg. The IDF said its soldiers had fired in response to "a threat." The incident came after villagers said that the troops, stationed in an abandoned Syrian army outpost, were preventing local farmers from accessing their fields. Maariya is near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, but outside the demilitarized "buffer zone" established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Syria. (MEE [12], ToI [13]) The news appears to confirm reports [10] that IDF troops have advanced beyond the "buffer zone."
Israel also announced that it has taken control of Mount Hermon, which lies at the northernmost extent of the buffer zone, stradding the border of Syria and Lebanon, and intends to remain there at least through the winter. The UN has called on Israel to withdraw from the buffer zone, which the IDF occupied on Dec. 8 as the Assad regime collapsed. (BBC News [14])
The violence at Maariyah comes amid ongoing Israeli and US military operations across the greater region. That same day, the Pentagon announced that it had killed an ISIS leader identified as Abu Yousef AKA "Mahmud," in a targeted strike in Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor [10] province. (The Hill [15])
The Israeli Air Force meanwhile carried out waves of air-strikes on Yemen Dec. 19. The srikes came in response to Houthi missile attacks on Israel that morning and Dec. 16, one damaging a school building near Tel Aviv. The IAF struck targets [16] across Houthi-controlled Yemen, including in ports on the coast and Sana'a, the capital. "The targets were all used by the Houthi terrorist regime for its military activities, including fuel and oil tanks, two power plants, and eight tugboats," the IDF said. (LWJ [17])
