ISTANBUL
Israeli forces advanced into villages in Syria’s southern Quneitra countryside on Friday, according to a Syrian news agency.
The Syrian News Agency SANA reported that the Israeli army deployed eight military vehicles and three tanks from the Tel al-Ahmar area westward toward Ain al-Zaywan and Sweisa in Southern Quneitra.
The force spread through Sweisa for about an hour before moving toward the small village of Dawayah, as tanks simultaneously entered the Abu Qubais hill, SANA reported.
Local sources said the forces remained there briefly before withdrawing, with no reports of arrests or casualties.
Earlier on Thursday, Israeli forces entered the village of Saida al-Hanout in southern Quneitra and detained three young men for a short time before releasing them, SANA added.
The latest incursion comes days after Israeli soldiers removed about 250 goats from inside Syrian territory and transported them to farms in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as reported by Israel’s private Channel 7 on Thursday.
Israel’s military police imposed disciplinary measures on those involved, including removing the team commander, issuing a formal reprimand to the company commander and suspending the unit’s activity for an extended period, Channel 7 reported, adding that an investigation is underway.
The latest incursion occurred despite an agreement reached earlier this month between Syria and Israel to establish a US-supervised communication mechanism aimed at reducing military escalation and facilitating coordination, according to a trilateral statement issued following talks in Paris.
Israeli forces have been carrying out near-daily incursions into Syrian territory, particularly in Quneitra’s countryside, detaining civilians, setting up checkpoints, questioning passersby and destroying farmland.
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.