Israeli ground troops have been conducting more and more infiltration into southwestern Syria, with at least eight such incidents reported in the last 24 hours. The cross-border raids have been done chiefly in Quneitra Governorate, along what was previously a UNDOF demilitarized zone.
That demilitarized zone was occupied by the Israeli military in late 2024, following the ouster of the Assad government. Recent incidents have seen Israeli forces within that newly occupied territory not only using it as a staging area for raids into the rest of Syria, but also are attacking Syrian civilians who live or travel within the zone.
Two distinct incidents were reported over the past day in the demilitarized zone in which Israeli forces shot Syrian civilians, leaving at least three civilians shot, and one, identified as Mohammad Ayman Dabbour, was killed.
Israeli troops overlooking Syria’s Quneitra | Image From SOHR
The incident took place overnight on Monday, and the Israeli military said the unarmed Dabbour was “suspected” of trying to “infiltrate” their outpost within the occupied demilitarized zone, near al-Hamadiyah, killing him. They said there were “no casualties” among the IDF.
Later on Monday afternoon, Israeli troops saw a pair of other Syrian civilians riding on a motorcycle within the demilitarized zone. Determining them “suspects,” the IDF conducted what it called “arrest procedure for a suspect.” Which is to say they opened fire on the motorcycle, shooting the pair.
In that case, however, the two unarmed civilians survived the Israeli attack, and were subsequently captured. They were taken for interrogation, and their status is currently unknown. Here again, there were no IDF casualties.
