Syrian refugee camp on the Turkish border: According to UN data, as of December 2012, more than 408,000 Syrian refugees have fled the violence in Syria.

Syrian gunmen fired on Israeli soldiers this weekend, just days after treating the injuries of four wounded Syrians at the Israeli-Syria border.

On Saturday, Islamic rebels in Syria seized control of the area adjacent to Israel’s Golan Heights, and shots were fired into Israel.  It is still unclear who is behind the gunfire at Israel.

“Any violation of Israeli sovereignty and fire from the Syrian side will be answered immediately with the destruction of the source of fire when we identify it,” said Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

Despite the breach, the Israel Defense Force has planned to build a field hospital near the border in order to treat an expected increase of Syrians seeking medical help.  (Times of Israel)

The four Syrians that asked for medical aid last week follow seven other casualties in February that were treated on Israeli soil.

Two of the most recent casualties had serious wounds and were taken to Rambam Hospital in Haifa under the authorization of Israel Defense Force Chief of Staff Benny Gantz.

As Syria’s civil war continues, rebel-held areas such as Aleppo—the nation’s largest city—have already been forced under the hand of brutal Islamic law, and some of these rebel forces are threatening to invade Israel.

The Sharia Authority can easily flex its muscles locally to punish crimes against Islam, such as committed by veteran rebel activist Wael Ibrahim.  When he tossed aside a banner inscribed with the Muslim declaration of faith, Sharia law (under the rebels’ new leadership) gave Ibrahim 10 strokes with a metal pipe.  (Washington Post)

“Syria is deteriorating from any point of view….  The organs of the regime are totally dysfunctional, and the large areas are today a prey for all the militias,” said Mordechai Kedar, a Middle East expert.

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime is backed by Iran and Shiite Islam, while the rebel groups are now being ruled by Sunni Islam.

“After they [the rebel groups] take care of Assad in Syria, they will go to take out Nasrallah [Lebanese Hezbollah leader] from his hole in the ground and kill him,” Kedar said.

Their next stop will be “to liberate Jerusalem from the Zionists and the Jews,” he said.  (CBN)

Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons continues to be a severe threat to Israel, who must be ready to counter that threat and respond to a Syrian war that could cross what has been her most peaceful borders for decades.