The Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria reportedly will be reopened on Monday, over four years after it was shuttered due to the ongoing war. The United States welcomed the move as a precursor to the re-deployment of United Nations peacekeepers to the Golan Heights. The UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) was formed as part of the cease-fire agreement between Jerusalem and Damascus that officially ended the 1973 conflict and created a demilitarized zone along the frontier. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley called on both sides to uphold the truce and “keep any [other] military forces…out of the area.” The development comes amid tensions between Israel and Russia—the Assad regime’s foremost backer along with Iran—over last month’s downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane. The Kremlin blames the Jewish state for the incident, in which 15 Russian servicemen were killed, that came in the immediate aftermath of an Israeli strike on a weapons manufacturing facility in Latakia. By contrast, Israel contends that the indiscriminate firing of an anti-missile battery by Syrian troops caused the crash. Moscow has since transferred the advanced S-300 missile defense system to the Syrian army, which could greatly inhibit Israel’s freedom of action in Syria’s skies.
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