Israeli forces have intensified incursions, raids and artillery shelling in Syria's Quneitra governorate despite US-brokered security talks with Damascus.
Israeli forces have carried out a new wave of incursions, searches and artillery strikes in southern Syria's Quneitra governorate, despite reports of negotiations over a potential Syria-Israel security agreement.
On Sunday evening, Israeli forces targeted the area around Tal al-Ahmar in Quneitra province with three artillery shells.
The strikes came hours after Israeli forces entered the village of Al-Samdaniya al-Gharbiya in the governorate's central countryside with four military vehicles.
The incursion coincided with the establishment of a temporary checkpoint in the village of Al-Ajraf, where Israeli forces searched passers-by. It followed earlier bulldozing operations near a checkpoint in Tal al-Hawa, a strategic geographical area and hill located directly south of Jubata al-Khashab in the northern countryside of Quneitra.
Israeli forces also entered the area with two tanks, according to the Sijil Center, a Syria-based monitoring and human rights organisation specialising in documenting and reporting Israeli military operations and alleged violations inside Syrian territory.
Fadi Al-Asma'i, the editor-in-chief of the Golan Media Foundation, told The New Arab that Israeli forces have stepped up their incursions and military movements across southern Syria, including in Quneitra province, western Daraa province and the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside.
He said that, amid reported negotiations over a security agreement between Israel and the Syrian government mediated by the United States, Israel is putting pressure on local communities in Syria.
According to Al-Asma'i, this is intended to send a message to Damascus that Israel will not relinquish Jabal al-Sheikh, also known as Mount Hermon, the Golan Heights which were occupied in 1967, and other areas seized after the Assad regime's downfall in December 2024.
"I believe that if Israel leaves the buffer zone once an agreement is reached, it will try to stay in the hills, including the eastern hill of Ahmar," al-Asma'i said.
Israel claims to be pursuing agents of the Lebanese Hezbollah group in the area, but al-Asma'i said that reports of a Hezbollah presence are "baseless and false". He added that Hezbollah members had left the area and could not have remained there following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
Al-Asma'i said the Israeli claims were intended to secure further security gains for Israel, while serving the political interests of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel's forthcoming elections.
He said Netanyahu was seeking to reassure his supporters that he would prevent another October 7-style attack in the occupied Golan, similar to the events in Gaza, presenting Israel's occupation as a deterrent against such a scenario.
Israel is seeking to keep the buffer zone around the occupied Golan in a state of tension, according to journalist Samer Al-Miqdad, who told The New Arab that Israel has used "incorrect and unrealistic pretexts" to justify its actions.
Al-Miqdad said Israeli forces have also carried out near-daily abductions of farmers in the area, sometimes releasing them on the same day.
This comes as Syrian rights monitors report that Israeli military forces have carried out at least 1,004 incursions into southern Syria since rebels led by current Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa overthrew the regime of former dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
The Israeli army has expanded the scope of its operations in the last year, conducting search and abduction campaigns, reinforcing its troops and bulldozing agricultural land.
Nearly 460 Israeli incursions into Syria were recorded last year, while 530 incidents have been recorded since the beginning of this year.
Despite ongoing Israeli attacks, there has been a reported meeting between Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and Israeli Mossad chief Roman Gofman in Jordan, raising further questions about the possibility of reviving Syria-Israel negotiations after months of deadlock and escalating tensions on the ground.
The meeting was mediated by the United States and hosted by Jordan, with security and military officials from both sides taking part, according to Syrian government sources.
