Syria: Mass graves uncovered, Shi’ite militia poised near Israeli border

Official state media reports that 153 people were evacuated to opposition controlled enclaves of the country.

By YASSER OKBI/MAARIV
Updated: DECEMBER 30, 2017 23:09
A Syrian woman is seen during an evacuation of rebels and civilians from Beit Jann, in Mogher al-Meer village, Syria December 29, 2017. (photo credit: OMAR SANADIKI/REUTERS)
A Syrian woman is seen during an evacuation of rebels and civilians from Beit Jann, in Mogher al-Meer village, Syria December 29, 2017.
(photo credit: OMAR SANADIKI/REUTERS)
Syrian government buses evacuated dozens of armed Syrian fighters and their family members on Saturday from their base near the Syrian Golan Heights.
This evacuation was part of an agreement to clear the area from all rebel forces, including the radical Islamic group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. Active since 2012, the group is a Salafist Jihadist organization devoted to replacing the Assad regime with an Islamic state.
Official Syrian state media reports that 153 people left Beit Jinn on state buses to the Daraa Governate in the south of the country. Another 100 people were evacuated to the Idlib Governate in northwestern Syria.
Syrian media groups associated with President Assad reported last week that after three months of intense fighting the rebels based in Beit Jinn surrounded and entered negotiations to ensure safe passage out of there. 
Syrian news groups that are affiliated to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham report that the agreement was honored and the buses headed to the Daraa Governate arrived safely.
This completes the Assad administration taking control over Beit Jinn, which is near the Syrian Hermon Mountain.
“The Israeli plan for this region ended when Beit Jinn collapsed,” said a high-ranking Syrian officer during an interview with the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar [The News] which is associated with Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Shi’ite terrorist group.
Pictures of Iraqi Shi’ite fighters in that area, which is near the Israeli border with Syria, were published once the state take-over had been completed.
In the western suburbs of Raqqa the Syrian army found two massive burial sites based on the oral testimonies of local residents. The graves contain the bodies of scores of soldiers and civilians killed by ISIS when that group was taking over northwest Syria. The Syrian army began legal procedures to identify the bodies.