BEIRUT, July 19, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Syrian rebels have agreed with
government backer Russia to the negotiated surrender of a sensitive
southwestern zone bordering the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, a monitor said
Thursday.
Quneitra is a thin, crescent-shaped province that lies along the buffer
zone with the Israel-occupied Golan to the west.
Rebels have held most of the province and the buffer for years but would
hand over their territory as part of the surrender deal, said the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights.
“The deal provides for a ceasefire, the handover of heavy and medium
weapons, and the return of government institutions to the area,” said
Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
Syrian police forces would take over current opposition territory in the
buffer zone, he told AFP.
Those that refuse the terms of the agreement would be granted safe
passage to opposition territory in northern Syria, he added.
A member of the rebel delegation to the talks confirmed to AFP that a
deal had been reached for government forces to enter the buffer zone but said
it was unclear when it would be implemented.
State news agency SANA said it had preliminary information on a deal for
the army to return to its pre-2011 positions in the area, but did not provide
more details.
The deal, according to the Observatory, does not include Hayat Tahrir al-
Sham, a jihadist-led alliance that holds territory straddling the provinces
of Quneitra and neighbouring Daraa.