Austrian peacekeepers withdraw from Golan Heights By
Karafillis Giannoulis | June 11, 2013 - 2:32pm
The Austrian peacekeepers in the demilitarised zone of Golan Heights are withdrawing from the area due to safety reasons and a lack of freedom of movement.
The tension is rising in the Golan Heights, as the Syrian rebels seized the Quneitra crossing late last week in an incident that injured two of the UN peacekeepers. After the incident, Austria announced its intention to remove its troops from the area.
On 11 June, al Jazeera reported that the Austrian peacekeepers left Golan Heights and headed to the main UN base on the Israeli side. Austria is expected to remove all of its UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) troops sent in the area later this month. At this point it is important to emphasise that the EU Member State contributes about one-third of UNDOF in the Golan Heights.
On 7 June, the members of the UN Security Council had expressed their concern at the escalation of tension in the Golan Heights. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant of the UK said that the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) is currently looking to engage with countries, able and willing to increase their troops in the Golan Heights and fill the gap that will be left by the Austrian withdrawal. According to Grant officials from DPKO, “will also be looking at the possibility of new troop contributors and getting them into the theatre as soon as possible, at the same time as trying to encourage the Austrians to slow down their departure from the theatre and dissuade any other current troop contributors from withdrawing troops.”
Grant stressed that it’s important for UNDOF to continue his key role in guaranteeing the 1974 ceasefire disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria. Therefore the presence of UNDOF in the Golan Heights, a region which was captured by the Israeli forces during the 1967 Six-Day War, remains extremely crucial for the prevention of any spill-over effect.
The gradual withdrawal of the Austrian peacekeepers is not the first, as Japan and Croatia have also withdrawn their troops in recent months as battles between the two Syrian sides had spread into the ceasefire zone.
Russia has declared its willingness to fill the gap in the Golan Heights but the 1974 UN international agreement that created the UN force in the area, doesn’t allow any member of the UN Security Council to participate in the mission.