Abdusalam Fayez and Lina Altawell
January 28, 2026•Update: January 28, 2026
ISTANBUL
Israeli army forces raided the countryside of Syria’s Quneitra province early Wednesday and detained a young man, in the latest violation of the country’s sovereignty, Syrian media reported.
Syrian television Alikhbaria said an Israeli patrol detained an unidentified young man at Ain al-Qadi farm in the southern Quneitra countryside during the raid.
A day earlier, Israeli aircraft sprayed unidentified substances over agricultural land in the Quneitra countryside, according to the SANA news agency.
The agency said the incident marked the second such operation, following a similar one carried out Sunday that targeted forested areas and farmlands near the villages of al-Asha, Kodna and al-Asbah, as well as the town of al-Rafid in southern Quneitra countryside.
The developments came despite an agreement reached by Syria and Israel on Jan. 6 to establish a US-supervised communication mechanism aimed at coordinating information sharing, reducing military escalation, engaging diplomatically and exploring trade opportunities.
Israeli forces, however, have continued to target Syrian territory at an almost daily pace, carrying out ground incursions particularly in the Quneitra and Daraa countryside in southern Syria, detaining civilians, setting up checkpoints to search and question passersby, and damaging agricultural land.
Israel has occupied most of Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967 and, following the ouster of the Bashar Assad regime on Dec. 8, 2024, announced the collapse of the 1974 disengagement agreement and moved to occupy the Syrian buffer zone.
Syrians say the continued Israeli violations are undermining efforts to restore stability and hindering government attempts to attract investment to improve the country’s economic conditions.
