Tag Archives: Israel

16Aug/16

Humanitarian diplomacy in Syria

Israel, Middle East, Syria, , ,

Omar Abdul Aziz Hospital in Aleppo was the latest one to be greeted by a Syrian bomb in July of this year, courtesy of the Syrian air force and its Russian training and supplies. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said those killed “included six children and eight women” in two government-controlled neighborhoods. He said dozens of people were also wounded.

Just last April in nearby Zabbadani, the last remaining doctor, Mohammed Khous, was killed by a sniper as he left the hospital following an operation.

Doctors and medical supplies are hardly available to assist those injured in the midst of a ruthless Syrian tragedy that has taken over 500 000 lives and left many more injured, traumatised and defenceless. In a war-torn country where every second person has lost his home, some help however, is coming from an unexpected place.

A few hours after the hospital bombing, eight children were already in operating theatres in nearby Israel. They have joined close to 3 000 Syrian patients who have found themselves in what a few years ago would be an unthinkable and impossible place. Continue reading →

02Aug/16

Syria’s New Map and New Actors: Challenges and Opportunities for Israel

Academic, Syria, , , , , , , ,

Memo pic

The civil war underway in Syria since March 2011 has changed the Syrian nation beyond recognition, and the shockwaves caused by the war have made a very strong impact,  both  in the Middle East and beyond. Following four decades of relative stability, Syria has become an arena marked by internal, regional, and international conflict. The weakening of the central government in Damascus, along with the transformation of Syria into a battlefield featuring many actors with different and often conflicting interests, poses new challenges for Israel. In the uncertain reality marked by the multiplicity of hostile actors, there are also opportunities for Israel to strengthen and possibly forge ties with pragmatic Sunni opposition and minority groups with whom it shares specific interests. This memorandum surveys the main actors currently operating in Syria, especially in the southern portion of the country; analyzes their attitudes toward Israel; and formulates recommendations for a new, proactive Israeli policy in the dynamic Syrian arena. It proposes modes of military, political, economic, and humanitarian action likely to serve Israel’s strategic interests. Chief among these interests are the need to maintain tranquility on the Golan Heights and the need to prevent the entrenchment of “negative” players on the Syrian side. For the full report, click here.