Rebels surround Druze village in Syria

Rebels surrounded a government-held Druze village on the Syrian side of the ceasefire line on the Golan Heights on Wednesday after heavy fighting, a monitoring group says.

The advance came a day after Israel, which has a significant Druze population, said it was preparing for the possibility that refugees fleeing fighting in the area might seek to cross to the Israeli side of the strategic plateau. The IDF chief of staff on Tuesday maintained Israel would act to prevent the slaughter of Syrian refugees near the Israeli border.

After fierce clashes with pro-government forces, rebels, including Islamist fighters, surrounded the village of Hader on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

“Hader is now totally surrounded by rebels, who just took a strategic hilltop north of the village,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman tells AFP.

He says the rebels had received reinforcements from elsewhere in Quneitra province, which covers much of the Golan.

“The regime has not sent reinforcements yet, but the Druze villagers are standing with the government,” Abdel Rahman says.

Fighting around Hader on Tuesday left at least seven rebels and 10 pro-regime fighters dead, he adds.

The encirclement of Hader comes amid rising fears in Syria’s Druze community.

— AFP