Israeli forces kidnap five residents during overnight incursions in Syria’s Quneitra countryside
Israeli occupation forces carried out overnight incursions into areas of northern and southern Quneitra countryside, detaining five young men, including minors, according to local reports.
According to a field reporter for the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), an Israeli military unit crossed the ceasefire line shortly after midnight, entering the village of Sayda al-Hanout in the southern Quneitra countryside. Troops detained a local youth before withdrawing back into the occupied Syrian Golan.
Concurrently, a separate Israeli force, backed by several military vehicles, pushed into the town of Jabata al-Khashab in northern Quneitra. Operations there resulted in the detention of four additional young men, some of whom are reportedly minors.
The overnight raids follow a broader pattern of heightened Israeli military activity along the demarcation line. Just 24 hours prior, Israeli troops carried out multiple incursions into agricultural areas and border villages across the Quneitra governorate.
On Saturday, Israeli forces temporarily occupied parts of Sayda al-Hanout to establish an unannounced checkpoint. Troops subjected local civilians and passing vehicles to rigorous searches before pulling back across the border.
The 1974 Disengagement Agreement, brokered by the United Nations following the October War, established a strict demilitarized buffer zone monitored by the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). The agreement explicitly prohibits the presence of military forces from either side within the established separation lines.
Damascus has routinely condemned these border crossings as a direct assault on Syrian sovereignty. In light of the latest detentions, Syrian authorities renewed their appeals to the international community and the United Nations, demanding immediate intervention to halt recurring Israeli violations and to enforce compliance with international law along the southern border. (ILKHA)
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