Syria: rebels evacuation near the Israeli border begins
Syrian state television reported that 10 buses had entered the village of Quneitra, near the Israeli border, to begin evacuating the rebels to northern Syria according to their surrender agreement with the regime.
Backed by Russian air power and unopposed by Assad's foreign adversaries, government forces have swept through southwestern Syria in the last month in one of the swiftest campaigns of the war, forcing surrender on massively outgunned rebels.
The campaign, which has already restored Assad's control over a critical portion of the frontier with Jordan, marks another milestone in his efforts to recover control of the country fractured by more than seven years of conflict.
Syrian state media cited "reports" that a deal for Quneitra province in the southwest had been reached. State TV said 10 buses entered a village in Quneitra on Thursday night for the evacuation of those insurgents "who refuse to settle with the state" towards rebel territory in the north.
Echoing surrender terms imposed on rebels elsewhere, opposition fighters agreed to give up heavy and medium-sized weapons. Those wishing to stay in the area will "settle" their status with the state, meaning accepting a return of its rule.
Those who reject the deal will be given safe passage out to the opposition-held province of Idlib in the northwest, according to terms that were also reported by a military news outlet run by Lebanon's Hezbollah group. Iranian-backed Hezbollah is fighting in Syria in support of Assad.
Once the southwestern campaign is finished, Assad's focus is likely to turn to the two remaining areas outside his grasp.
The campaign near the Golan frontier has been particularly sensitive because of Israeli concerns. Israel has signalled it has no problem with Assad recovering the area as long his Iranian and Tehran-backed allies were kept away from the frontier.
Israel has also said it would demand strict adherence to the 1974 disengagement deal with the Syrian army on the Golan, threatening a "harsh response" to any attempt by Syrian forces to deploy in that zone. The deal, concluded after the 1973 Middle East war, created a buffer zone patrolled by the U.N. Disengagement and Observer Force.
