Dozens from Syria gather near line with Israel

MAJDAL SHAMS: Dozens of people gathered Wednesday on the Syrian side of a ceasefire line with Israel, across from the Golan Heights town of Majdal Shams, an Israeli security source told AFP.

"Groups of several dozen... gathered this morning opposite Majdal Shams and stayed there but without demonstrating," the source said.

An AFP correspondent in Majdal Shams confirmed groups of people were milling about on the Syrian side of the ceasefire line, and that Israeli troops on the other side appeared to be on alert.

The Israeli military refused to comment.

In recent weeks, thousands of protesters, many of them Palestinians living in Syria, have massed along Israel's northern lines, with hundreds seeking to breach the line and cross into the occupied Golan Heights.

Dozens successfully breached the line and entered Majdal Shams on May 15, when Palestinians mark the "Nakba" or "catastrophe" of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were forced from their homes or fled in fighting that followed Israel's declaration of independence.

Protesters sought to repeat the breach on June 5, but Israeli troops opened fire, killing 23, according to Syrian state media.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011