Israeli forces launch new raid into Syria’s Quneitra countryside

ISTANBUL

Israeli army forces launched fresh incursions on Monday into the northern countryside of Quneitra in southern Syria, in the latest violation of the country’s sovereignty.

An Israeli force consisting of five military vehicles advanced toward the village of al-Samadaniyah al-Sharqiyah before moving in the direction of Tal Kroom Jaba, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

The outlet said another Israeli force of three military vehicles entered Ruwayhina village, where troops set up a checkpoint near a UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) point on the road linking Ruwayhina with Beer Ajam and Zubeida.

Three more military vehicles advanced into Bariqa village, where they established a temporary checkpoint at the Kabas junction in the village center before withdrawing, the agency added.

The raids come a day after Israeli troops pushed into the area between the town of Jubata al-Khashab and the villages of Ofania and Ain Al-Bayda in the northern countryside on Sunday.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army or the Syrian authorities on the report.

Israeli incursions in Quneitra have recently intensified, with locals complaining of advances into their farmland, as well as the destruction of hundreds of acres of forests, arrests of residents, and the establishment of military checkpoints.

The Israeli army has carried out over 1,000 airstrikes on Syria and more than 400 cross-border raids into the southern provinces since December 2024, according to government data.

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 Disengagement Agreement with Syria.