Israel delivers aid to about 50,000 Syrians fleeing government assault
Jerusalem — Israel mounted a night-time operation across its armistice line with Syria to deliver aid to people fleeing a government offensive in the country’s south, the army said Friday. The majority of the 50,000 Syrians who have fled the 10-day-old Russian-backed assault on rebel-held parts of Daraa province have headed towards the sealed border with Jordan, but thousands have set up makeshift camps near the Israeli-held Golan Heights. Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel would provide cross-border aid but there was no question of allowing displaced families to cross into the Israeli-annexed sector of the strategic plateau. "We are following closely what’s happening in southern Syria," Lieberman wrote on his Twitter account. "As usual we shall be ready to provide all humanitarian assistance to civilian women and children but we shall not accept a single Syrian refugee in our territory. "We shall take care of Israel’s security interests," he said. The army said ...
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