Israeli forces stage new raid into Syria’s Quneitra countryside

By Lina Altawell

ISTANBUL (AA) – Israeli forces moved into the village of Sida al-Hanout in Syria’s southern Quneitra countryside on Thursday, in the latest raid into Syrian territory.

The SANA news agency said a three-vehicle patrol raided the town and established a checkpoint at its western entrance, searching passersby and disrupting movement for some time before withdrawing from the area.

The raid came hours after Israeli forces staged an incursion into the village of Ofaniya on Wednesday evening, while firing illumination flares and two artillery shells toward the vicinity of Tal al-Ahmar Ain al-Nouriya in the northern Quneitra countryside.

Israeli forces have been carrying out near-daily incursions into Syrian territory, particularly in the Quneitra countryside, detaining civilians, setting up checkpoints, questioning those passing through and destroying farmland.

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement.

Syrians say the continued Israeli violations are undermining efforts to restore stability and hindering government attempts to attract investment to improve the country’s economic conditions.