It would mark another major victory for Assad, who has recovered swathes of southwestern Syria over the last month in a Russian-backed offensive.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is set to recover control of the frontier with the Israeli Golan Heights after rebel fighters in the area agreed to surrender terms, sources on both sides said on Thursday.

The rebels in al-Quneitra province at the border with the Israeli-controlled territory have agreed either to accept safe passage to the rebel-held province of Idlib in the northwest or to remain in the area on the state’s terms, according to details outlined by a Hezbollah-run news outlet and a rebel source.

It would mark another major victory for Assad, who has recovered swathes of southwestern Syria over the last month in a Russian-backed offensive that has already forced many rebels to surrender.

The report by the Hezbollah-run military news outlet said the agreement stipulated “the return of the Syrian army, represented in the 90th and the 61st brigades, to the positions that it was in before 2011.”