From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 11, 2024
Satellite images show IDF troops digging trench along UN-patrolled demilitarized zone in Syria
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel has begun a construction project along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Golan Heights from Syria, apparently laying asphalt for a road right along the frontier, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show.
The United Nations confirms to the AP that Israel Defense Forces troops have entered the demilitarized zone during the work.
Earlier satellite photos show the work began in earnest in late September.
High-resolution images taken on November 5 by Planet Labs PBC for the AP show over 7.5 kilometers (4.6 miles) of construction along the Alpha Line, starting some 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) southeast of the Druze town of Majdal Shams, where a Hezbollah rocket strike killed 12 children playing soccer in July.
The images appear to show a trench between two embankments, parts of which appear to have been laid with fresh asphalt. There also appears to be fencing running along it as well toward the Syrian side.
The construction follows a southeast route before heading due south along the Alpha Line, and then again cutting southeast. The images show excavators and other earth-moving equipment actively digging along the route, with more asphalt piled there. The area is also believed to be littered with unexploded ordnance and mines from decades of conflict.
So far, there has been no major violence along the Alpha Line, which delineates the demilitarized zone between Syria and Israel that UN peacekeepers have patrolled since 1974.
The IDF has not responded to requests for comment and Syrian officials in Damascus decline to comment.
