US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that the United Nations, ‘Israel’ and Syria have agreed to reopen the Quneitra crossing in the occupied Golan Heights on Monday.

Haley said in a statement that the opening “will allow UN peacekeepers to step up their efforts to prevent hostilities in the Golan Heights region”.

The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has been monitoring operations in a demilitarized zone established in 1974 between the Israeli-occupied Golan and the Syrian sector, but the peacekeeping mission was disrupted by Syria’s war.

UNDOF resumed its patrols in the area of the crossing point in August, after withdrawing in 2014 when Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists overran the area, three years into the war.

UNDOF’s return was made possible after Syrian government troops retook the Syrian side of the crossing in July.

“We look to both Israel and Syria to provide UN peacekeepers the access they need as well as assurances of their safety. We also call on Syria to take the necessary steps so UNDOF can safely and effectively deploy and patrol without interference,” Haley said.

Haley added that all sides must stick to a 1974 agreement and “keep any military forces other than UN peacekeepers out of the zone.”

Military police from Russia have been patrolling on the Syrian side of Quneitra.

Source: Agencies