Israeli forces continue to operate in southwestern Syria, with incidents reports in Quneitra, Daraa, and Rif Damasq Governorates. While most of the cross-border incidents involve the Israeli military searching homes and establishing temporary checkpoints in Syrian territory, there are also increasingly destructive incidents to report.
Up in Rif Damasq, Israeli troops not only entered a farmhouse near Bait Jinn, but later rigged it with explosives and blew it up. The house was reportedly abandoned, and the IDF did not explain why they felt the need to enter Syria and destroy an abandoned house.
Quneitra Governorate has seen considerable damage done to rural areas, with Israeli forces damaging croplands and cutting back forests in northern Quneitra. Over the weekend, Israeli drones had reportedly been deployed to prevent local journalists from covering IDF earth-moving operations in southern Quneitra.
IDF troops operating in Quneitra Governorate | Image from SOHR
Monday saw the destruction in Quneitra scaling up even higher, with IDF troops causing some fires by firing flares into the area near al-Hamadiyah, and then compounding the damage by preventing firefighters and other civil defense workers from reaching the area that was on fire.
Israel’s forces are working on what is being called the Sufa 53 project, which will ultimately end in adding parts of southern Quneitra into the occupied Golan Heights claim of Israeli government. The territory grab is controversial, to say the least.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry was quick to issue a statement criticizing the Israel for its activities along the Sufa 53 line, urging the international community to unite to take steps to end Israel’s expansionist policies.
Immediately after the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Israel invaded and occupied the UNDOF demilitarized zone between the occupied Golan Heights and the rest of Syria. Israeli officials have vowed to retain the seized territory and concerns are growing that this was only the beginning of a new territory expansion.
