In a special overnight operation, Israel Defense Forces troops delivered approximately 50 tons of humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees, who are fleeing attacks by Syrian President Bashar Assad on the rebel-held city of Daraa.
Supplies delivered under “Operation Good Neighbor” included some 300 tents, 13 tons of food, 15 tons of baby food, three pallets filled with medical equipment and medication, and 30 tons of clothing and shoes.
The aid was transferred to Syrian refugee camps in southern and central parts of the Syrian-held Golan Heights from four different entry points along the Israel-Syria border.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that more than 120,000 people fled Daraa. Some went to the border with Jordan, despite an announcement that it would not accept anymore refugees. Thousands more fled to the Israeli border, asserting that Syria and ally Russia would not dare to commit attacks so close to the Jewish state.
While the United Nations appealed to Jordan to keep the border open, Jordan replied that the world body should do more to provide safety and security to Syrian citizens. More than 650,000 registered Syrian refugees are currently in Jordan, with an estimated hundreds of thousands more in Jordan unofficially.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has sworn to retake control of every inch of Syria, a promise he has been working to fulfill since the beginning of the bloody civil war that started in 2011.
If Assad retakes Daraa, only one more region will remain in the control of anti-Assad forces.
