JERUSALEM, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Ireland, Fiji and Nepal will send hundreds of troops to bolster the UN peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights, Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported Monday.
The latest development comes weeks after Austria withdrew its 380 troops from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force ( UNDOF), citing deterioration of security situation due to the escalation in Syria's unrest.
According to the report, Ireland agreed to send a 150-strong well-trained and equipped infantry unit, which was previously part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali; Fiji would dispatch about 500 peacekeepers; and Nepal would redirect some 50 peacekeepers, currently deployed in Lebanon, to the Golan Heights.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also convinced the Philippines and India not to remove their combined 500 troops from the force.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the UN's efforts to re-staff UNDOF were coordinated with Israel and done in "complete transparency," according to Ha'aretz.
Russia volunteered to send troops to replace the Austrians, but its permanent membership in the UN Security Council would have required special approval for such a move; and Israel, for its part, has rejected the proposal.
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