Manila , September 14: The Philippines has agreed to deploy a 300-member peacekeeping force in the disputed Golan Heights, replacing a Polish contingent, the defence chief said on Monday after a six-day visit to the United States.
An advance team of 12 military officers is leaving at the end of the month to prepare the Philippine military’s deployment with the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) at the Golan Heights, Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told reporters.
The United Nations has deployed more than 1,000 troops from Austria, Canada, Croatia, India, Japan and Poland at the disputed plateau overlooking Damascus and the Sea of Galilee that supplies water to Israel.
Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since the end of the 1967 war and Syria is demanding the return of the territory in talks negotiated by Turkey. The U.N. peacekeepers have been monitoring the truce between Israel and Syria since 1974.
—-Agencies