SYRIA-CRISIS/ISRAEL-DRUZE Golan Druze attack Israeli army ambulance, Syrian casualty dies

Record ID: 151878

  • Title: SYRIA-CRISIS/ISRAEL-DRUZE Golan Druze attack Israeli army ambulance, Syrian casualty dies
  • Date: 22nd June 2015
  • Summary: NEVE ATIV, GOLAN HEIGHTS (JUNE 22, 2015) (REUTERS) DAMAGED AMBULANCE SHATTERED AMBULANCE WINDOWS BLOOD STAINS MEDICAL EQUIPMENT ON GROUND / MORE OF AMBULANCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) KOBI MAROM, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE IN INTERNATIONAL COUNTER TERRORISM INSTITUTE IN HERZLIYA AND RETIRED ISRAELI ARMY COLONEL, SAYING: "We had a very severe incident two hours (ago) here, that a group
  • Embargoed: 7th July 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6Q95993B40DEF6WBRZRYNWYRK
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Druze villagers on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights attacked an Israeli military ambulance on Monday (June 22) and one of two Syrian casualties it was carrying from the civil war next door died, police said.
    The incident near the Golan village of Majdal Shams overlooking Syrian territory was the second attack by Druze on an Israeli army ambulance in less than 24 hours and underscored Druze concern for brethren caught up in Syria's civil war.
    Israeli Police said villagers threw rocks and other missiles at the ambulance, inflicting extensive damage and causing a deterioration of the condition of the two wounded Syrians, who were initially said not to be in life-threatening condition.
    The second wounded Syrian was being treated at an Israeli hospital and was in serious condition and two Israeli military ambulance crew were lightly hurt, police and the army said.
    "This is a very grave incident. We will not permit anybody to take the law into their own hands, and we will not allow anyone to hamper Israeli soldiers in the course of their duty," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
    "I call on Druze leaders to act immediately to calm tensions," he said.
    Earlier on Monday, Israeli Druze blocked an Israeli army ambulance they believed was transporting wounded Syrian rebels, local authorities said.
    A former Israeli army colonel and a counter terrorism researcher, Kobi Marom, told Reuters the incident was "a red line".
    "We had a very severe incident two hours (ago) here, that a group of people from the Druze villages two miles from here attacked the ambulance with two casualties from the battles in Syria and a few IDF soldiers. In my point, they crossed a red line - it's a very tough argument, I think the police and the IDF must change the situation here and take care of all the movements from the border to the hospitals in Israel and I think the leadership of the Druze communities along the border and in the upper Golan region must take responsibility and control the situation because I think it affects dramatically the struggle of the Druze for their relatives across the border," he said.
    Asked about the ramifications of such an incident, he said: "I think it's going to affect the struggle of the Druze for their relatives across the border and I think the IDF and the police must patrol and operate in all those villages in the next few days because we have some demonstrations and other severe incidents along the border with Israel. We'll continue the humanitarian project to evacuate casualties from the battles to the Israeli hospitals. I think it's important to continue in spite of the severe incident that we had here tonight."
    The Druze are an Arab minority that practice an offshoot of Islam and whose adherents in Syria, long loyal to the ruling Assad family, are beset by jihadi insurgents. Israeli Druze, some of whom wield clout in Netanyahu's government and the military, have been urging intervention.
    In the absence of such action, many Druze in Israel and the Golan Heights are angry at the admission of casualties from rival Sunni Muslim communities in Syria, anti-Assad fighters among them, for medical treatment.
    In the earlier incident, the Israeli army ambulance carrying Syrian casualties was stopped before dawn on Monday on the outskirts of Hurfeish, a Druze town in northern Israel, by several residents who demanded to inspect the passengers, a police spokesman said.
    The ambulance pulled away, with the Hurfeish residents throwing rocks at it as they followed in pursuit, police said, adding that a 54-year-old local man was wounded after apparently being hit by the military vehicle.
    Ayoob Kara, a Druze deputy Israeli minister, sought to reassure his kinsmen about Syrian casualties coming into Israel.
    In a statement, Kara said Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon had told him Israel would not admit fighters from radical jihadi groups Islamic State or Nusra Front. Israeli officials have said they did not make treatment conditional on casualties' affiliations.
    The military declined to elaborate on the identities of the Syrians who were in the ambulance stopped outside Hurfeish.
    In a statement, Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif, spiritual head of Israel's Druze community, condemned the confrontation as "the kind of provocation that harms our interests and those of our Druze brothers over the border".
    "This is our moment of truth," he said. "The Druze religion and tradition opposes any physical harm, especially against wounded people."
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