ISTANBUL

Israeli forces advanced into the village of Bariqa in the southern Syrian city of Quneitra on Wednesday in the latest violation of the country’s sovereignty, official media reported.

An Israeli unit consisting of a pickup vehicle and a van crossed into the village, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

The Israeli army shelled the Quneitra countryside in southern Syria on Tuesday, in the latest violation of the country’s sovereignty.

The army fired four artillery shells into the eastern Tal Ahmar forest area in Quneitra’s southern countryside, SANA said Tuesday. No details were provided about injuries or damage.

The attack came hours after Israeli forces advanced into rural areas of Quneitra and Daraa in southern Syria. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army or Syrian authorities on the attack.

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.