Hader, Quneitra Governorate Explained

Official Name:Hader
Other Name:Hadar
Native Name:Arabic: حضر
Pushpin Map:Syria
Pushpin Mapsize:250
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Governorate
Subdivision Name1:Quneitra
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Quneitra
Subdivision Type3:Subdistrict
Subdivision Name3:Khan Arnabah
Settlement Type:Town
Unit Pref:Metric
Population As Of:2004
Population Total:4,819
Timezone:EET
Utc Offset:+2
Timezone Dst:EEST
Utc Offset Dst:+3
Coordinates:33.2794°N 35.8303°W

Hader (Arabic: حضر, also spelt Hadar) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Khan Arnabah Subdistrict of the Quneitra Governorate. It is in the portion of the governorate that is still under Syrian, rather than Israeli, control. The town is located just outside the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone. Nearby localities include Beit Jinn to the northeast, Harfa to the east, Jubata al-Khashab to the south, Majdal Shams in the Israeli−occupied Golan Heights to the west and Shebaa in Lebanon to the northwest.

Population

According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Hader had a population of 4,819 in the 2004 census.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly from the Druze community.

History

In the 1895–1896 conflict between the Druze of Hauran and the Ottoman government and their local allies, Hader and nearby Hina were assaulted by Circassians and Bedouin fighters from the Golan allied with the Ottomans. This followed a Druze attack which devastated 12 villages in the Hauran plain near al-Shaykh Maskin. Following the attack on Hader, Druze fighters from Majdal Shams retaliated by attacking the Circassian-inhabited village of Mansura, which in turn led to Ottoman and Circassian raids against the Druze villages in the Golan.[2]

In mid-June 2015, during the Quneitra offensive of the Syrian Civil War, rebel forces reportedly surrounded the village,[3] which is pro-Assad.[4] However, their motives are disputed.[5]

Even though the surrounding localities are under rebel control, the town had remained under government control for the entire duration of the civil war.

On 13 March 2019, Israel accused senior Lebanese Hezbollah operative Ali Musa Daqduq of having been sent to Syria and founding a network of "a few" Syrian operatives manning outposts in Hader and collecting intelligence against Israeli targets.[6] The accusation included video footage of men walking to and from the outposts.

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/syr_pop_2004_sycensus_0.xls General Census of Population and Housing 2004
  2. Firro, p. 232.
  3. News: Assaf Uni . Inside Israel's Secret War in Syria. 21 June 2015. Newsweek. 18 June 2015.
  4. News: Lazar Berman. IDF says will attack Syrian Druze town if troops threatened . 21 June 2015 . The Times of Israel.. 3 November 2014.
  5. News: Maayan Lubell. Druze in Israeli-held Golan fear for Syrian brethren . 21 June 2015 . Reuters. 19 June 2015.
  6. IDF . 1105680499257892864 . Previously classified intelligence now cleared for publication: Ali Musa Daqduq, a senior operative in the Lebanon-based terrorist organization Hezbollah, has been operating a new terror cell in... Syria.. Forces. Israel Defense. 2019-03-12. Twitter. en. 2019-03-13.