‘Bomb Syria’ Axis Rebels urge Israel

Syrian rebels, whose forces are fighting agaist a new offensive in the South Army, Hizbollah, and Iran, is calling on Israel to attack their positions, “The Jerusalem Post” writes.

An Israeli Druse who is in frequent contact with the Syrian opposition said that the warnimg came to alert the IDF, before the axis is able to take the Syrian Golan that borders Israel.

A Syrian rebel commander in the South vowed to wage guerrilla war against the Lebanese group Hizbollah and Syrian government forces, which have launched a major offensive against insurgents in the sensitive border region near israel and Jordan.

The offensive that got under way this week is focused in an area south of Damascus that is the last notable foothold of the mainstream armed opposition to President Bashar Assad, who has consolidated control over much of western Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the war, says the push is being spearheaded by Hizbollah, and that government forces and allied militia have made significant progress.

Mendi Safadi, who served as former Likud deputy minister Ayoub Kara’s chief of staff, has independently met with members of the liberal and democratic Syrian opposition who oppose the Islamists and want friendly relations with Israel.

Safadi met a week and a half ago with Syrian rebel leaders in Bulgaria and has traveled in the region, met activists, and relayed messages from them to the Prime Minister’s office.

He was responsible for relaying the congratulatory letters from the Syrian opposition to then President-elect Reuven Rivlin.

Heavy battle

Over the past few days there has been a heavy battle going on between the forces aided by Iran, Syria, and Hizbollah against the Syrian opposition, Safadi told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Thursday.

The Syrian axis is “using all means” to achieve their objective of taking the area in southern Syria that borders Israel, he said.

The rebels have succeeded in some areas, “but have been hit hard.”

The rebels have suffered many wounded over the past few days, which means that more are crossing into Israel for medical treatment. Around 2,000 Syrians have been treated in Isreael, according to Safadi.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Muhammad Allahdadi was killed with Hizbollah commander and the son of the group’s late military leader, Imad Mughniyeh, in an alleged Israeli attack last month on a Hizbollah convoy near the Israeli Golan Heights.

Hizbollah, which is backed by Iran and fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006, said six of its members died in the strike.

After receiving this hard hit, “Hizbollah and Iran want to show that they can withstand it and still have motivation to fight,” argued Safadi.

“The Syrian opposition contacted me yesterday [Wednesday] in a Whatsapp message and asked for me to relay a message to the [Israeli] prime minister that Israel should give Hizbollah and Iran another hard hit to stop their progress,” reported Safadi.

The Free Syrian Army commander of a large unit in southern Syria, who did not want to be identified, claimed to Safadi that the Syrian allied forces intend to reach the Israeli border and use it to carry out terrorist attacks against the Jewish state.

“The commander relayed to me coordinates where Syrian and Hizbollah forces are located ,” said Safadi, adding that he cannot reveal this information.

The Syrian government is getting s tremendous amount of support from Hizbollah, Iran, and Russia, and the rebels in the south are “simple people without a proper army or weapons.”

The Syrian army said on Wednesday that territory including four hills and three towns had been secured from insurgents it identified as members of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

The mainstream rebels, known collectively as the Southern Front, are dismissive of Nusra’s role in that area. The battle – the most serious effort to date by the state to take back the South – was mostly brought to a halt on Thursday by snow.

“The battle could be lengthy. It will be hit and run – this is the system we are going to use in battle,” said Abu Osama al-Jolani, a senior commander in the southern rebel alliance.

“We are not a state army defending borders… we operate a system of guerrilla warfare. As far as we are concerned, land is not important,” he added, speaking to Reuters via the Internet from an area near the Syrian- Jordan border.

A force consisting of Hizbollah fighters, Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Syrian regime soldiers launched an offensive this week southwest of Damascus, in the direction of Kuneitra province and the Golan Heights. Their aim is to regain territory lost to Syrian rebels and jihadis over the past year, and to establish a strong defensive line before capital.

In Kuneitra and Deraa provinces, close to the borders with Israel and Jordan, the Syrian war is characterized by significantly different dynamics in comparison to elsewhere in this fragmented country. The area is completely closed off to reporters, which may partilly exokain the absence of medua attention; in addition; Islamic State is not a major factor among the anti-regime forces.

In this area, a de facto, undeclared buffer zone has been established by both Jerusalem and Amman, as part of a broader effort which includes Western and regional players. The regime and its allies are attempting to claw back ground in this area.

The war in the south is fought between a “government ” side, which includes a very high presence of Hizbollah and Iranian personnel; and a “rebel” side, whose components have significant links to neighboring – and Western – governments.