After Austria announced earlier in the day to evacuate forces from the Golan Heights, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon decided on Thursday night to find troops to replace some 380 UN peacemakers.

Israel wants the forces to remain on the border to maintain peace that has reigned there for four decades. Israeli diplomatic officials said that Ban's decision implies the importance of peacekeeping missions in the region if the force collapsed because of regional tensions.

The announcement from Austria came after battles between Syrian troops and rebels near the Quneitra border-crossing were reported.

For past 40 years, the 1,000-strong United Nations Disengagement Observer Force is monitoring the border.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it regrets the Austrian decision and hopefully it will not exacerbate the problem in the region. The statement issued by the Foreign Ministry said that Israel believed that UN will uphold its commitments under Security Council Resolution 350 to maintain the UNDOF.

"If at a time when a few bullets are fired, these forces run away from where they are needed to keep the peace, then what is it worth?", one diplomatic official asked. The official admired Ban for taking the matter seriously.

On Thursday morning, anti-Assad rebels briefly seized Quneitra, which is a crossing between Israel and Syria. This led the UN staff to go in their shelters before Syrian Soldiers pushed the rebels back and regained their control of the area.