Syrian MP: Israel, Jordan behind rebel attacks on Syrian army

The MP specifically referenced a recent increase in attacks on the Syrian army in the Dara'a area in southwestern Syria.

Fighters from the Democratic Forces of Syria carry their weapons as they cheer near the Syrian town of al Houl in Hasaka province, after they took control of the area, November 14, 2015. A U.S.-backed Syrian rebel alliance on Friday captured the town of al Houl in Hasaka province, which had been hel (photo credit: REUTERS/RODI SAID)
Fighters from the Democratic Forces of Syria carry their weapons as they cheer near the Syrian town of al Houl in Hasaka province, after they took control of the area, November 14, 2015. A U.S.-backed Syrian rebel alliance on Friday captured the town of al Houl in Hasaka province, which had been hel
(photo credit: REUTERS/RODI SAID)
Israel and Jordan support and command rebel groups attacking the Syrian army, said the Secretary of the Syrian Parliament Khalid al-Aboud on Sunday, according to Fars news.
The MP specifically referenced a recent increase in attacks on the Syrian army in the Dara'a area in southwestern Syria.
The rebel groups have contacts with the Military Operations Command (MOC) room and are commanded by orders from Jordan and Israeli intelligence, according to the MP.
Al-Aboud also stressed that rebel groups have attacked civilians and Russian forces and have set fire to thousands of hectares of agricultural land as well.
The joint Arab-American MOC, based in Jordan, provides rebels with weapons and money, although sometimes in a limited capacity depending on strategic decisions made by the nations running the operations room, reported the New York Times in 2014. The Obama administration also authorized a CIA program to train rebels at the MOC in 2013.
A rebel general told the Times that the MOC's main job is humanitarian aid, while military support is minimal. The general added that he believed that the minimal military aid was meant to draw out the war in order to weaken Syria and decrease the country's threat on Israel.
The Syrian MP said that the MOC has become a new center intending to use rebel attacks on the Syrian army in the south of the country as leverage to pressure the Assad government.
Since mid-2015, Jordan and the MOC room directed the rebels to cease offensive operations against the regime due to the desires to prevent new refugee flows from Syria (each offensive leads to mass displacement of civilians), avoid antagonizing Russia after it intervened in Syria in September 2015, and the loss of trust in the FSA. Those who refused the MOC’s orders risked having their salaries cut.
Instead, the MOC pushed the rebels to confront Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Walid, the local Islamic State (ISIS) affiliate, which controls the western Dara'a countryside.
Syrian authorities found Israeli-made equipment among weapons, ammo, communication devices and medical supplies left behind by rebel groups in the Quneitra area near the Israeli-Syrian border on Sunday, the Syrian SANA news agency reported. The weapons included assault rifles, machine guns, tank and artillery shells, anti-armor landmines and assorted ammunition.
The US has resumed training rebel groups, including factions of the Free Syrian Army, in Jordan near the border with Syria after suspending such training for a year, according to Fars. The rebel groups undergo special training, including heliborne operations.
Elizabeth Tsurkov contributed to this report.