The 2012–2014 Quneitra Governorate clashes began in early November 2012, when the Syrian Army began engaging with rebels in several towns and villages of the Quneitra Governorate. The clashes quickly intensified and extended into the United Nations-monitored demilitarized zone along the ceasefire line with the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, which Israel considers as a sensitive security area.
The fighting came to international attention when in March 2013, Syrian rebels took hostage 21 Filipino UN personnel, who had been a part of the UN Disengagement Observer Force in the neutral buffer zone between Syria and Israel. According to UN official they were taken hostage near Observation Post 58, which had sustained damage and was evacuated the previous weekend, following heavy combat in close proximity at Al Jamla. The UN personnel were later released with Jordanian mediation.
Israel was briefly involved in the fighting in several incidents, such as on 11 November 2012, when mortar shells from Syria landed near an Israeli military outpost in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, responding by firing "warning shots" into Syria. This accounted for the first direct cross-border incidents between the two countries since the Yom Kippur War nearly forty years prior. Other occasions of short cross-border fire exchanges followed in early 2013 and in March 2014, with several wounded Israeli soldiers reported in each incident and one Israeli civilian killed.
The clashes in the governorate were eclipsed by the 2014 Quneitra offensive, launched by rebels on late August 2014, resulting in take-over of much of the governorate by mid-September.
Background
Quneitra Governorate came into its modern shape in 1946, with Syrian independence from French Mandatory rule. The borders of the governorate were extended during the 1948 War with Israel, as Syria occupied parts of the Jordan and Huleh Valleys, adjacent to the Sea of Galilee. During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel captured the Western Golan Heights from Syria, effectively reduced Syrian-controlled Quneitra part to one third of its size. After a failed attempt to recapture the region in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Syria and Israel have remained in a shaky truce with a United Nations-monitored demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the countries. Many countries have condemned Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights, especially their unilateral annexation of the area in 1981 and subsequent settlement construction.
The border remained quiet for nearly four decades until the outbreak of the Arab Spring. During the 2011 Israeli border demonstrations, Palestinian protesters approached the border and were subsequently fired upon by Israeli forces. Four demonstrators were killed and dozens were injured. Additionally, Israeli soldiers were injured when protesters attempted to cross into the Druze town of Majdal Shams located on the Israeli-occupied side of the ceasefire line. As the Syrian civil war progressed, border clashes began to escalate, with spillover conflicts in Lebanon and Turkey prompting fears of an escalation to a wider regional conflict.
There were some concerns of civil unrest on the Israeli side of the border as well, particularly among the Golan Druze. The Druze population of the Israeli-occupied portion of Golan Heights numbers around 20,000 individuals, with majority of them still holding Syrian citizenship. Prior to the war, the Golan Druze were overwhelmingly in support of the government of Bashar al-Assad, as his government has long been staunchly supportive of their interests and opposition to Israeli rule. Many of them were able to conduct business across the border in Syria as a result of agreements between the Syrian and Israeli governments. As the civil war deepened, however, a minority of Golan Druze began to voice opposition to the Assad government. According to local sources, perhaps 22 individuals had crossed the border into Syria to fight for the rebels by late September 2012. Public support for the Syrian government nevertheless remains high, while rumours of pro-Assad spies intimidate potential dissenters fearful of being banned from cross-border trade.
Involved actors in Quneitra region
Baathist Syria and allies
The Katiba Ahrar Haḍr (Battalion of the Free Men of Haḍr), referring to the Druze village of Haḍr in the Jabal al-Sheikh region, formed on 28 January 2013 in response to disillusionment with government policies of conscription into the Syrian Army as well as apparent extortionist practices on the part of the People's Committees set up to coordinate the activities of Druze militias with the Syrian Army. In the group's formation video, the battalion declares affiliation with the FSA-banner Military Council of the Quneitra and Golan region.
Syrian opposition
Brigadier General Abdul-Ilah al-Bashir, the leader of the Quneitra Military Council, a Syrian rebel coalition affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, was appointed the Chief-of-Staff of the FSA's Supreme Military Council (SMC) on 16 February 2014. A rebel offensive in May 2014 to capture the town of Qahtaniya and the Riwadi and Hamidyya checkpoints involved the Syrian Revolutionaries Front (SRF), Saraya al-Jihad, Bait al-Maqdis Group, Ahl Assalaf Youth, Jund al-Rahman Brigades and Mujahideen al-Sham Movement.
The Furqan Brigade (al Quneitra) is a branch of the Damascus-based Islamist Furqan Brigade, operating in the southwest of Syria near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights The Islamic Front is a coalition of several rebel groups, including Ahrar al Sham, which is linked to al Qaeda.
The Syrian Revolutionaries Front (SRF) is an alliance formed in December 2013 by the Free Syrian Army as a response to the merger of Islamist Syrian rebels into the Islamic Front. It assisted the Islamic Front and Al Nusrah in 'liberating' ar-Rawadia and Humaydia in the Quneitra countryside in September 2014.
Mujahedeen
In August 2014, it was reported that Jabhat al-Nusra, along with Fallujah-Houran Brigade, Syria Revolutionaries Front, Saraya al-Jihad, Bayt al-Maqdis and Ahrar al-Sham, began a battle called "the real promise" to seize control of the devastated city of Quneitra and the crossing connecting it with the Golan Heights. The source was surprised by the participation of Islamic factions in the battle, since they were absent for months from the fighting in the southern region, especially in Daraa, before simultaneously deciding to participate alongside the Syria Revolutionaries Front, its most bitter enemy.
Others
Other rebel factions in Quneitra included: Ansar al-Huda; Fursan al-Ababil; Jabhat Ansar al-Islam; Youth of Sunnah Brigade, and probably other local groups.
Timeline
2012
On 18 July 2012, the Free Syrian Army captured Jubata al-Khashab and started operations against the Syrian Army from it.
On 2 November 2012, Syrian Army tanks crossed into the UN-administered demilitarized zone and clashed with rebels near the village of Beer Ajam. During the clashes, stray bullets hit an Israeli patrol in the area. Israel responded on 5 November by filing a complaint with the United Nations Security Council, claiming Syria violated the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement signed following the Yom Kippur War. The terms of the 1974 armistice prevent the Syrian military from conducting operations within the DMZ. Sources within the Israeli military cite these restrictions as a potential reason why the armed opposition drew the Syrian Army into combat in the area.
By 10 November, at least 30 Syrian rebels and soldiers had been killed in the fighting, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Clashes were reportedly ongoing in and around the villages of Bariqa, Beer Ajam and al-Hersh. Two days later, Syrian Government forces began shelling opposition positions in the village of Bariqa near the border with Israel. A foreign journalist reported seeing the fighting from the Israeli side of the border, with government forces driving rebels toward the border with heavy artillery. About thirty minutes later, a shell from Syria landed near Tel Hazeka in the Golan Heights. Israel retaliated by shelling Syrian government positions with Merkava tanks, resulting in "direct hits" on the sources of the fire. According to Israeli Army Radio, the Assad government requested that Israel stop firing, though it was not clear if the Israeli shelling caused any casualties.
By 13 November, a force of at least 200 rebels had captured the Syrian-side villages of Beer Ajam and Bariqa. Rebels were reportedly in control of the areas to the north and south of Quneitra. The following day, Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak claimed that rebels were in control of most of the villages on the eastern slopes of the Golan Heights, and that the Syrian Army had been unable to enter them.
On 28 December, SOHR reported that six rebels, including a commander, and five government soldiers were killed in combat in the villages of Ruwayhinah and Zubaydah. The following day, SOHR reported that two rebels died of their wounds incurred in earlier combat with government forces in the area.
2013
On 6 March, 21 UN personnel were taken hostage by Syrian rebels in the neutral zone. They were later released with Jordanian mediation.
On 24 March, the IDF fired a guided missile at a Syrian machine gun nest after Israeli troops were shot at twice in the Golan Heights. No Israeli soldiers were hurt in the shooting, during which army vehicles were hit.
On 7 May, 18 rebel fighters were reported killed in heavy fighting in the province.
On 21 May, there was an exchange of fire between Syria and Israel in the Golan Heights. An Israeli vehicle was hit by Syrian fire with the Israeli's retaliating and destroying the source of the attack.
Early on 6 June, rebels attacked and temporarily captured a Golan border crossing. However, the same day, government forces counter-attacked with tanks and armoured personnel carriers, recapturing the crossing. Al Jazeera's Sue Turton, reporting from the Golan Heights, said that this marked a significant point in the crisis. Rebels also attacked a military checkpoint in the largely destroyed and abandoned city of Quneitra. A shell landed in an UN base nearby as a result of Government-Rebel fire-exchanges. An Austrian defense ministry official confirmed to the Associated Press that rebel troops captured the crossing point and that UN forces have withdrawn from the area.
On 16 July, rebel fighters retreated from the al-Qahtaniya village because of heavy bombardment by the army on the village after violent clashes.
2014
On 31 January 2014, rebels captured al-Susiyah city and 5 other villages. A week later, rebels managed to stop an army convoy that was heading to Al-Dwaieh village.
On 16 February, Abdel al-Ilah al-Bachir, chief of the FSA Military Council in Quneitra, was appointed chief of staff of the Free Syrian Army.
On 18 February, the Army launched a surprise offensive during the morning using tanks and air strikes against the villages of al-Hajjeh, al-Dawayeh al-Kubra, al-Sughra, Bir Ajam and al-Buraika in the central and southern parts of al-Quneitra. 4 days later, the Army and National Defense Force captured the areas of Rasm al-Hour and Rasm al Sayd, south of the town of Quneitra. SOHR confirmed troops were on the offensive, adding that the air force was taking part in the attack. Two days later, rebels managed to 'infiltrate' the Abu-Dhiab and Khalil tank platoons in Tal-Al-Jabieh area, seizing various weapons and two tanks. It was also reported that about 40 regular army soldiers were killed and a number of others captured. Al-Arabiya reported this as a major advance of FSA in Quneitra governorate. On 26 February, the Army dispatched reinforcements to the province, after recent gains by rebels there. It was also reported that rebels declared their control of over 80% of the Golan countryside through coordination committees. They also announced a new offensive against the bases in Quneitra, especially Brigade 61.
On 1 March, two rockets were fired on an Israeli post on Mount Hermon, in what is widely believed to be a retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on a Hezbollah target near the Lebanese-Syrian border. On 18 March, an Israeli jeep traveling on the Golan Heights near the Syrian border came under attack, when an explosive device was detonated in its vicinity. One soldier was seriously wounded. Another three soldiers sustained light-to-moderate injuries. IDF 155 Artillery battery returned fire across the border following the incident and shot several shells on a Syrian outpost. Israel responded by carrying out multiple airstrikes against Syrian targets, including a military headquarters, artillery batteries and a training base of the Syrian army. The Syrian army reported that the Israeli airstrikes killed one Syrian soldier and wounded seven. On 28 March, Israeli soldiers opened fire on two gunmen seen attempting to sabotage the border fence with Syria on the Golan Heights. IDF said both armed suspects were struck by the gunfire.
On 7 April, rebels announced the start of a new offensive in the Tell Ahmar area to capture two strategic hills. They managed to advance while damaging a tank according to the SOHR. The rebels captured one of the strategic hills later that day. Rebels also captured the village of Tulul al-Humur after besieging it for weeks.
On 8 May, rebels launched a military operation against al-Qahtania, al-Hamedia, Quneitra Crossing and the al-Rawadi checkpoint in Quneitra province.