Israel’s army is organising hiking tours for Israeli citizens inside occupied Syrian territory during the Passover holiday next weekend, according to local media.
Participants will cross the occupied Golan Heights into areas of Syria more recently captured following the fall of the Assad government, escorted by Israeli military forces.
The tours have been initiated by the Israeli army’s Northern Command and the 210th Division, in collaboration with an Israeli organisation called “Friends on Excursions”, Israeli media reported on Friday.
They are reportedly organised by the Regional Council of Settlements in the Golan Heights and the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority.
The tours will reach up to 2.5km deep into the occupied Syrian territories, near the village of Maaraba.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on
Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
They will include visits to the Wadi al-Ruqad, a tributary of the Yarmouk River and the Hejaz Railway Tunnel at the river.
These tours will be guided by the Israeli army, with participants receiving special permits.
Families will be allowed to join the tours, which will also include the Shebaa Farms, a strip of Lebanese land on the Lebanese–Syrian border occupied by Israel, at the foot of Mount Hermon.
Participants will be transported by buses.
Syria must put an end to Israel’s incursions – and fast
Read More »
Registration for these tours has now closed, but the Israeli army has announced that additional tours will be organised if the security situation permits.
After the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, Israeli forces heavily bombed military bases across Syria.
They have also advanced beyond the Golan Heights demilitarised buffer zone, occupying Mount Hermon and other strategic areas inside Syria, in violation of a 1974 international agreement.
Initially, security officials quoted in the Israeli media talked of establishing in Syria a 15-km demilitarised zone and a 60-km “zone of influence” where potential threats could be monitored.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later demanded the “complete demilitarisation” of southern Syria.
Netanyahu said Israeli forces would remain in the Mount Hermon area and the Golan buffer zone “indefinitely” and not let the new Syrian army “enter the area south of Damascus”.
