'Israel' continues its incursion into Quneitra, Daraa
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Israeli forces escalate violations in Syria with ground incursions and temporary checkpoints in Daraa and Quneitra amid drone surveillance.
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Israeli army tanks maneuver near the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria, in the town of Majdal Shams, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024 (AP)
Israeli forces continue to violate Syrian sovereignty by conducting ground incursions and establishing military checkpoints in the provinces of Daraa and Quneitra.
An Israeli force advanced into the village of Ma'ariya in the Yarmouk Basin area of western Daraa countryside on Saturday, setting up a temporary checkpoint on the eastern side of the village and stopping passersby for inspection, while another force deployed toward the villages of Koya and Abidin.
Meanwhile, an Israeli force consisting of five military vehicles advanced into the village of al-Samadaniya al-Sharqiya in the Quneitra countryside, setting up a checkpoint to inspect passersby amid a deployment of Israeli soldiers in the surrounding area and the flight of reconnaissance drones overhead.
Israeli assaults on Syria have escalated since the fall of the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad on December 8, 2024, with Israeli forces conducting near-daily ground incursions into border villages in the countryside of Daraa, Quneitra, and rural Damascus.
'Israel' displaces residents, Syria aims for security deal
Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused "Israel" on September 17 of committing war crimes in southern Syria, including forcibly displacing residents and demolishing homes in the buffer zone of the occupied Golan Heights.
HRW stated that Israeli forces, which have occupied parts of southern Syria since December 2024, have carried out a range of abuses against residents, including forced displacement, and the group added that testimonies, satellite imagery, and visual evidence corroborated accounts of arbitrary arrests and the blocking of livelihoods.
The report coincides with Syrian state media reports that Israeli forces detained several people in the south and comes a day after Damascus announced it was working with Washington to reach mutual "security understandings" with "Israel".
Syrian transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa confirmed in statements to Turkish media on September 19 that Syria is nearing a US-mediated security agreement with "Israel", which he stated could be finalized in the coming days.
He emphasized that the agreement would be similar to the 1974 disengagement accord, clarifying that it does not indicate any form of normalization between Damascus and Tel Aviv nor is it related to the "Abraham Accords".
