While the world focuses on Israeli military operations against Iran and Lebanon, the country continues to carry out active operations in southwestern Syria, and in recent days, that involves detained Syrian children on unknown pretenses, and holding them at military sites.
On Thursday a pair of children shepherding cattle were captured by the IDF, though they were ultimately released a few hours later. Four more children were reported captured on Sunday in two different incident, and are being held at an Israeli military site in the area.
Here again the children were reportedly herding livestock, with three of them captured near al-Ashah village in Quneitra Governorate, and the fourth captured just outside of Kwdana. The fourth was herding livestock near a hilltop military post, which may be related.
Israeli troops also in the western part of the Daraa Governorate, with five Israeli armored vehicles reportedly heading to the area near Jamlah village. Israeli air defenses reportedly shot down a suspected Iranian drone in the same area, though it’s not clear if this was related to the deployment of the armored vehicles.
Israel invaded Syria in December of 2024, following the ouster of the Assad government. Initially seizing the demilitarized zone between Quneitra and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the troops have gone deeper in intermittent operations, raiding villages and detaining shepherds, though generally speaking the Israeli troops have not attempted to establish a permanent presence beyond the former demilitarized zone.
Negotiation have been ongoing between Israel and Syria for nearly a year, though Israel has rejected the idea of giving the old demilitarized zone back, and instead is demanding the creation of a new demilitarized zone and no-fly zone across southern Syria. The Syrian government is reportedly not keen to accept that idea, and in recent months Israeli officials have suggested the sides remain far from an actual deal.
