ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Israeli forces have advanced about two kilometres into Syrian territory at more than one location, setting up checkpoints and detaining Syrian citizens, drawing condemnations from regional countries, state media reported on Friday.
The new development comes despite talks between Tel Aviv and Damascus in Paris under US mediation, as part of diplomatic efforts aimed at promoting security and stability in Syria.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said Friday that Israeli armored vehicles have advanced from the Golan Heights into the provinces of Daraa and Quneitra.
Six Israeli army vehicles entered the town of Abdeen west of Daraa at dawn, briefly detaining three young men from one family, SANA reported. Another four Israeli army vehicles entered the village of al-Ajraf in Quneitra where they set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the village and searched several homes.
Since the collapse of the regime in Syria in December last year, the Israeli army has carried out a number of operations across the border, including airstrikes and ground operations to support the Druze minority in the south of the country, as Damascus struggles to maintain control over Druze-majority areas in the south, where protesters recently called for separation from the Syrian state.
Israel's military activity was discussed at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday.
“The Arab Group condemns in the strongest terms the violations of the Israeli occupation forces in Syrian territory, which represent a flagrant violation of Syrian sovereignty, international law, and the United Nations Charter, and a direct threat to regional peace and security,” Qatar’s permanent representative to the UN, Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, told the council.
Iran’s ambassador, for his part, accused Israel of destabilizing Syria.
“The Security Council should not ignore the ongoing destabilizing actions of the Israeli regime in Syria. Israel’s repeated aggressive attacks have caused civilian casualties, destroyed vital infrastructure, and escalated regional tensions,”said Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani.
In early December, a coalition of opposition forces - then spearheaded by the now-dissolved Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), under Ahmed al-Sharaa, led a swift offensive toppling the regime of longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Sharaa in late January became Syria’s interim president.
Since then, Tel Aviv has intensified efforts to destroy Damascus’s military stockpiles and its forces have entered buffer zones east of the Israel-annexed Golan Heights.
Israel had captured most of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War. In 1974, a US-brokered Disengagement Agreement created a UN-monitored buffer zone to reduce tensions by delineating separation lines between Syrian and Israeli forces without establishing formal peace.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on Tuesday held a rare meeting with Ron Dermer, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister and top aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Paris. The discussions, reportedly mediated by the US, come as Syria struggles to maintain control over Druze-majority areas in the south, where protesters recently called for separation from the Syrian state.
According to Tom Barrack, the US special Envoy for Syria, the goals of the meeting between Israel and Syria were achieved.
“Our goal was dialogue and de-escalation," Barrack said, without mentioning whether or not there were any agreements signed in the meeting.
