{Hundreds of UN troops withdrew from the Syrian to the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan on Monday, an AFP correspondent said, two weeks after Al-Qaeda-linked rebels kidnapped dozens of the peacekeepers.}<\/p>\n
They crossed in a UN convoy in the afternoon into the Israeli-occupied sector, the correspondent said.<\/p>\n
There was no confirmation from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which monitors a 1974 ceasefire between Israel and Syria on the Golan Heights.<\/p>\n
In late August, rebels on the Syrian side including Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front seized the Quneitra crossing and kidnapped more than 40 Fijian UNDOF troops, before they were released two weeks later.<\/p>\n
They also clashed with 75 Filipino members of the force, who eventually fled a nearby outpost.<\/p>\n
Rebels including Al-Nusra have now taken control of most of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a Britain-based Syria monitoring group said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The fighting has driven thousands of Syrian families in the area from their homes, the Red Cross said.<\/p>\n
“Clashes between government forces and the armed opposition have intensified in recent days in Quneitra governorate — in Quneitra city in particular, where access to clean water, food, and health care is limited,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The ICRC said it has provided emergency relief for more than 50,000 people, but warned the number of displaced people was “expected to grow.”<\/p>\n
Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan during the Six-Day War of 1967, then annexed it in 1981 in a move never recognised by the international community.<\/p>\n
Some 510 square kilometres of the Golan remain on the Syrian side of the ceasefire line, with UNDOF overseeing a buffer zone stretching some 70 kilometres from Lebanon in the north, to Jordan in the south.<\/p>\n
UNDOF’s mandate is renewed every six months, and currently runs until December 31.<\/p>\n
Six countries contribute troops to the 1,200-strong UN force on the Golan: Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal, the Netherlands and the Philippines.<\/p>\n
AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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