Details of an agreement reached between Damascus and opposition factions in the countryside of Quneitra revealed that the Russian police and regime forces would deploy in the strategic al-Hara hill to reactivate the Separation of Forces Agreement signed in 1974 between Syria and Israel.
Fighters and civilians began on Friday leaving Quneitra province in the Golan Heights to Idlib in northwestern Syria in line with the deal.
A copy of the deal, which has 13 clauses and was received on Friday by Asharq Al-Awsat, shows that “the army's Brigades 90 and 61 as well as the Russian police will return to the ceasefire line and the demilitarized zone, according to the 1974 agreement.”
The deal stipulates that the Russian police will enter the UN posts to monitor the withdrawal of fighters opposing the agreement.
According to some reports, this agreement is the culmination of previous understandings reached between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump to reactivate the Separation of Forces Agreement under Moscow’s patronage.
The text of the deal stipulated the establishment of a tripartite buffer zone, 80 kilometers along the border, and the exit of government forces after the defeat of ISIS.
The three leaders also agreed that Russia would control the Hara hill, with an altitude reaching 1,200 kilometers to look over the south and monitor the implementation of the deal.
In previous negotiations, Moscow sought to control the hill and to participate in the Separation of Forces Agreement. However Washington had opposed such demands.
Opposition fighters signed 11 clauses of the surrender agreement, including a pledge not to verbally attack political or military officials (in reference to “Hezbollah” and Iranian militias) and to report on any issue affecting security.
Syrian troops had recently recovered Daraa and the Nassib border crossing on the Jordanian border, which is a gateway for trade between Amman and Damascus.
At a news conference in Helsinki last Monday, Trump and Putin said they would agree to work together to help ensure Israel's security.
