“Israeli” Forces Push into Southwestern Syria, Establish Checkpoint in Quneitra

By Staff, Agencies

“Israeli” forces have crossed into southwestern Syria, erecting a military checkpoint and stopping civilian vehicles in Quneitra in what Syrian media described as a fresh violation of the country’s sovereignty.

The incursion took place Sunday near the Ain Al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, where an “Israeli” unit halted passing cars and carried out searches.

Syria’s SANA news agency said three “Israeli” military vehicles later advanced deeper into the northern countryside, deploying between Jubata Al-Khashab and the villages of Ofaniya and Ain Al-Bayda. A separate “Israeli” unit launched another intrusion in the central sector, advancing toward Umm Batina and Al-Ajraf.

Residents said such incursions have intensified in recent months, noting “Israeli” encroachment onto farmland, widespread deforestation, arrests, and mobile checkpoints appearing across the region.

The “Israeli” entity has sharply escalated its military operations in Syria since last year, a period that coincided with intensified assaults by the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham [HTS] terrorist organization—a group previously contained to the northwest by the government of President Bashar Al-Assad. As HTS renewed its offensives, “Israeli” strikes targeted Syrian civilian areas and defense infrastructure, weakening state capacity.

Reports indicate that the entity conducted over 1,000 airstrikes and more than 400 ground raids across southern Syria during this escalation. Following the collapse of the Assad government, “Israel” expanded its hold over the occupied Golan Heights, seizing control of a demilitarized buffer zone in defiance of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. A recent visit by senior “Israeli” officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to the seized zone triggered concern at the United Nations.

Meanwhile, the United States—“Israel’s” principal ally—has been cultivating ties with HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani amid growing reports of political rapprochement between Washington and Tel Aviv.