Israeli forces erect new fortifications in Syria’s Quneitra province

Israeli troops also detain civilian during separate incursion in region

Israeli forces erected new fortifications inside agricultural land in southern Syria’s Quneitra province Wednesday, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA. The agency said the fortifications, reinforced with iron barriers and concrete blocks, were set up near the separation fence with the occupied Golan Heights, west of the town of Al-Rafid in the countryside. According to SANA, the structures were erected along a road previously opened by Israeli forces near the fence line, around 300 meters (328 yards) inside Syrian agricultural land. Earlier Wednesday, an Israeli force consisting of four military vehicles advanced along the road linking the village of Al-Muallaqa and the town of Ghadeer al-Bustan in Quneitra countryside. The force established a temporary military checkpoint and detained a civilian passing through the area before later withdrawing, the agency said. Israeli forces have carried out near-daily incursions in southern Syria, including raids, checkpoints, house searches and detentions, Syrian media reported. Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime on Dec. 8, 2024, Israel declared the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria void and moved into the UN-monitored buffer zone. Syria's new administration has repeatedly affirmed its commitment to the agreement. Despite the absence of direct threats from Syria's new leadership, Israel has continued airstrikes and military offensives inside Syria, causing civilian casualties and damage to military infrastructure.