Israeli forces conduct 3 new raids in Syria’s Quneitra

DAMASCUS/ISTANBUL

Israeli army forces staged three incursions into the Quneitra countryside in southern Syria on

Tuesday, in a new violation of the Arab country’s sovereignty, local media reported.

A three-vehicle patrol crossed from the entrance of the town of Bir Ajam toward the villages of Bariqa and Kudna in the southern Quneitra countryside, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said.

Another Israeli force consisting of 12 military vehicles moved into the village of Saida al-Hanout through the Tal Abu Ghaithar crossing, before moving along the road to the village of Ruzaniyah and onward to Sayda al-Golan, the agency said.

SANA said Israeli soldiers set up a roadblock at the western junction of Sayda al-Golan. Another force briefly entered the village, searched a house before withdrawing.

The incursions came despite an official announcement that a new round of negotiations between Damascus and Tel Aviv had begun under US mediation, focusing on reviving the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.

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

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.