Israel military to end Syria humanitarian aid operation

The Israeli army has announced it will end an operation it says was aimed at providing Syrian civilians with humanitarian and medical aid in the occupied Golan Heights. Israel has had a policy of offering aid to Syrians who reach its lines, “without getting involved in the conflict.” This humanitarian aid “has ended with the return of the Syrian regime in the southern part of Syria,” the Israeli army said a statement. In the past five years, 4,900 Syrian civilians including 1,300 children have been treated in Israeli hospitals, and 7,000 at a field hospital near the Golan ceasefire line, AFP reported, citing the statement. Food, medical equipment, medicine, tents, generators, fuel and clothes were provided to them as part of the “Operation Good Neighbor.” Israel has refused to host refugees from the war-ravaged country. Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria around 50 years ago before annexing it in 1981. The international community has not recognized the move.