The IDF declares a closed military zone in a small area near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the northern Golan Heights.
The decision to restrict access to the area comes after assessments that members of the Druze community from the Galilee and the Carmel area in the northwest of Israel will come to the Golan Heights to protest near the border fence against the danger which their brethren in Syria are facing from rebel groups, especially the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front.
Battles have been taking place in the village of Hader, in Syrian territory, about two kilometers (1.24 miles) from the border fence. A Druze officer in the Syrian Army was killed in the battle, as well as five resident of the village.
Arab media outlets were quoted by Walla, a Hebrew news website, as saying that part of the village was taken over by rebels, but there were no confirmations of the report.
Demonstrators gather along Syria’s border with Israel before trying to cut through a line of barbed wire and head into the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, as seen from the Druze village of Majdal Shams, on June 5, 2011. (photo credit: Flash90, File)
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