The United Nations peacekeeping force on the Syrian side of Israel’s northern border is scheduled to return to the area. The force left in the middle of 2013 as the Syrian civil war continued to escalate. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently instructed President Reuven Rivlin to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence towards bringing the international force back, as was reported by YWN-ISRAEL. Rivlin met with the Russian president in Moscow recently.

The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) soldiers are from five countries which agree to serve on the force. When the force left in 2013 it numbered about 900 soldiers.

Commanders and soldiers from the force visited the border area in recent weeks as they prepare to resume maintaining a presence as a buffer between Israel and Syria.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)