Peacekeepers hail from the same unit whose troops were snatched by opposition gunmen Wednesday
Eight Filipino United Nations observers abandoned their post on the Israel-Syria border on Friday and crossed into Israel to escape fighting between anti-regime rebels and the Syria army. The peacekeepers belonged to the same unit whose troops were abducted by rebel forces on Wednesday near the village of Jamla.
They crossed over near an Israeli army position and had first “coordinated their arrival” with the IDF, said a defense official. Israeli troops and UN personnel greeted them near one of the border gates. The Filipino peacekeepers will be transferred to a UN base inside Israel.
On Friday, the Philippine government said Syrian rebels had failed to release the 21 UN peacekeepers and stuck to their demands for the repositioning of Syrian government forces before any handover.
The 21 peacekeepers were seized Wednesday just a kilometer (less than a mile) from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, where the UN force has patrolled a cease-fire line between Israel and Syria for nearly four decades.
The spokesman for the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Raul Hernandez, said the rebels had been expected to free the peacekeepers early Friday.
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