ISTANBUL

Israeli army forces conducted a new raid in Syria’s southern countryside of Quneitra on Sunday, in the latest violation of the country's sovereignty, according to local media.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that a two-vehicle Israeli patrol entered the countryside from the Adnaniyah area in northern Quneitra, setting a military checkpoint between the villages of Rwihinah and Mushayrifah.

Another Israeli unit advanced into the southern town of al-Rafid and opened random fire into the air, with no reports of injuries.

Meanwhile, a patrol consisting of five military vehicles raided the village of Saida al-Hanout in the southern Quneitra countryside.

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

The latest raids brought the number of Israeli incursions in southern Syria to 42 since the beginning of December, according to an Anadolu tally.

Most of these raids targeted central and northern Quneitra and included the establishment of military checkpoints, the construction of earthen berms, the uprooting of thousands of fruit-bearing trees, and the destruction of agricultural lands and water wells.

Israeli incursions also targeted the slopes of Jabal al-Sheikh (Mount Hermon) and the surroundings of the town of Beit Jinn, with Israeli attempts to establish technical surveillance points in elevated areas overlooking Syrian territory.

Syrian government data shows that since December 2024, Israel has carried out over 1,000 airstrikes on Syria and more than 400 cross-border raids into the southern provinces.

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 a 1974 agreement with Syria.