Ram Ben-Barak, the director general of Israel's Intelligence Ministry, says dividing Syria is “the only possible solution” to the conflict. Israel's Minister of Military Affairs Moshe Ya'alon, who was in Munich to meet with European counterparts and Jordan's King Abdullah, also echoed Ben-Barak’s remarks. Ya'alon also voiced doubt that a ceasefire plan for Syria agreed upon recently would succeed. After negotiations in Munich, diplomats from a working group of 17 countries, including the US, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, agreed Thursday to establish a temporary "cessation of hostilities" in Syria within a week. The International Syria Support Group (ISSG) also called for rapid humanitarian access to besieged Syrian towns. The Israeli officials' statements come as reports say Israel has been supporting the militants fighting the government of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. The Israeli regime has set up hospitals near the border with Syria to treat the injured militants coming in from the battlefield there. Locals in the occupied Golan Heights have also intercepted Israeli vehicles transporting injured militants on the road between al-Sheikh Mountain and the village of Majdal Sham. The Israeli calls for dividing Syria was raised as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, two regional sponsors of militant groups in Syria, have in recent weeks voiced their interest in launching a ground operation inside the country. On February 12, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNN that Riyadh is ready to deploy special forces to Syria if the US-led coalition, carrying out airstrikes in the country since September 2014, decides to take such a move. The idea of a possible participation in ground operations in Syria was first raised on February 4 by Ahmed Asiri, a spokesman for the Saudi Defense Ministry. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia has dispatched warplanes to the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, claiming that the move is in line with the fight against Daesh terrorists in neighbouring Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Ankara and Riyadh could launch a ground operation in Syria “if there is a strategy.” The United States has welcomed the Saudi offer, while it has been met with strong criticism from Syria and its allies. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem has said that any “ground intervention on Syrian territory without government authorisation would amount to an aggression that must be resisted.” He has also warned that potential aggressors would return home in a “wooden coffin.” Russia, Iran and Iraq have also warned against the deployment of foreign ground forces in Syria. The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which flared up in March 2011, has killed some 470,000 people and left 1.9 million injured, according to the so-called Syrian Centre for Policy Research. "This programme was produced by Aparat Ltd for Press TV"

• published: 07 Mar 2016
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