Syrian army advances in Dara'a; Israel raises alert

DAMASCUS-- The Syrian army has managed to wrest control over several towns and villages in the strategic southern Dara'a Province, leading Israel to raise its alert level in the bordering Golan Heights.

Syria's official SANA news agency reported on Friday that the army had retaken al-Herak, Rakham, al-Soura, Alma, al-Mliha al-Sharqia and al-Mliha al-Gharbia in Dara'a countryside following mass surrender of rebels.

Rebels in other four towns have also accepted to hand over their weapons and embark on a reconciliation process with the Syrian government forces, which have been on a wide-scale offensive in that area near the Jordanian and Israeli border, according to the state news agency SANA.

The towns that will witness the surrender of the rebels to the army are Taibeh, Saida, Um al-Mayathin, and Nasib, where a border crossing with Jordan is located and named after the town.

This achievement comes as a result what the government refers to as reconciliation efforts, which goes in tandem with the military action against the rebels in the countryside of Dara'a.

Meanwhile, the state TV aired a short video, showing people chanting for the Syrian army in the town of Ibta in the northern countryside of Dara'a.

The military option and the reconciliation attempts in Dara'a aim to have the province empty of rebels, particularly as the army secured the entire capital Damascus and its countryside recently.

Daraa is important as it's only 100 km south of Damascus and has border points with neighboring Jordan.

Calling it the battle of the south, the Syrian army is fighting the rebels in the countryside of Dara'a, Sweida and the Quneitra province near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Dara'a also has a symbolic significance as it was the birthplace of the Syrian war that erupted in 2011 and securing it will be a big victory for the Syrian army both symbolically and militarily as the rebels have used the Jordanian border to bring in arms and fighters throughout the Syrian war.

Ahead of the commencement of the military offensive in Dara'a, the Russians, the Syrian government's main international allies, attempted to establish reconciliation with the rebels in the southern region amid talks and coordination with Israel and the U.S.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed that as many as eight towns were in reconciliation negotiations.

"There are talks between the Russians on one side and opposition factions on the other, through local mediators, over the fate of eight towns in Dara'a's countryside," the UK-based monitoring group said.

SOHR head Rami Abdel-Rahman said Russia's military police were leading the discussions for each town separately. "Most of them appear willing to reconcile" with the Syrian government and hand over their heavy weapons, he said.

The recapture of Dara'a is highly important because it borders the occupied Golan Heights which Israel has used to treat wounded militants for years.

The Israeli military Friday raised its alert level in the Golan Heights as the Syrian army edged closer to the occupied region.

The territory's return to the Syrian government control would cut the much-reported collaboration between Israel and militants and deal a blow to Tel Aviv's plans to annex the Golan Heights. 

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and has continued to occupy two-thirds of the strategically-important territory ever since, in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

The Tel Aviv regime has built tens of illegal settlements in the area since its occupation and has used the region as a launch pad for conducting airstrikes against Syrian military positions. 

The Syrian government earlier accused Israel of thwarting talks for settling the situation in southern Syria and also accused the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front of preventing other rebel groups from accepting to reconcile with the government.

The government has repeatedly accused Israel of supporting the ultra-radical rebels in southern Syria and also charged that Jordan was aiding the rebels.

But it seems that the military action in Dara'a has pushed the rebels to be more practical in dealing with the situation and start to surrender to the army.

Israel's military meanwhile said it delivered about 60 tons of humanitarian aid and medicine to thousands of displaced Syrians in the Golan Heights who flocked to the area, fleeing heavy bombardment by Syrian government forces.

Israel has been sending aid across the border for several years and has provided medical treatment to thousands of Syrians that reached the frontier with the Israel-controlled Golan Heights, London based Daily Mail reported on Saturday.

A video released by Israel's military shows soldiers loading aid into trucks on the Israeli-controlled side and the cargo being then carried into vehicles by unidentified people on the Syrian side of the border.