DAMASCUS / ISTANBUL

Israeli warplanes flew at low altitude Friday over Quneitra province in southwestern Syria as Israeli ground forces advanced into several nearby villages as part of ongoing Israeli violations of the country's sovereignty, Syrian official media reported.

Israeli military aircraft conducted low-level flights over Quneitra, the state-run Al-Ekhbariya Channel said without immediately specifying the reason for the overflight.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that an Israeli force made up of eight vehicles entered several villages in the Quneitra countryside in southwestern Syria.

The incursion began from the Adnaniyah crossing and moved toward the villages of Umm al-Azam and Ruwayhinah, passing through Rasm al-Halabi, al-Mushairfa, and Umm Batina, the agency added.

There were no comments from the Israeli army or Syrian authorities on the reports.

Israeli violations in southern Syria have become nearly daily in recent weeks and have included arrests and the establishment of temporary checkpoints, fueling public anger.

Syrians say continued Israeli actions are undermining efforts to restore stability and complicating government attempts to attract investment aimed at improving economic conditions.

Despite the fact that the Syrian government poses no threat to Israel, its forces have repeatedly entered Syrian territory and launched airstrikes, killing civilians and destroying Syrian military sites, vehicles, weapons, and ammunition.

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.

Following the Assad government's fall on Dec. 8, 2024, Israel declared the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement with Syria no longer in effect. Damascus has repeatedly called on Israel to halt what it describes as violations, SANA reported.