Arab News | Israeli forces detain Syrian citizen during Quneitra raid

LONDON: Israeli forces detained a civilian on Wednesday after raiding his home in a village in southern Syria’s Quneitra province, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

Three Israeli military vehicles entered the western part of Saida Al-Golan, where soldiers searched a house and detained a resident before withdrawing toward Abu Mazara Farm, the agency said, citing its correspondent in Quneitra.

The raid was the latest in a series of Israeli incursions reported by SANA in recent weeks involving home searches, detentions, land clearance and shelling.

Damascus, which says the operations violate the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, has repeatedly called for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Syrian territory. It has also urged the international community to press Israel to withdraw, saying Israeli measures on Syrian territory have no legal effect.

Israel took control of the UN-patrolled demilitarized zone after the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, 2024. Senior Israeli officials described the deployment as temporary, saying it was intended to prevent cross-border attacks.

Since then, however, Israel has established a more lasting military presence. In November 2025, the UN Disengagement Observer Force told reporters that Israel had set up 10 bases in the area.

Israeli troops operating from those bases have conducted near-daily incursions into Daraa and Quneitra provinces.

The operations often extend beyond military patrols. In a January report, the Syrian consultancy Karam Shaar Advisory described armored patrols moving through populated areas and setting up temporary checkpoints on main roads.

At those checkpoints, Syrian civilians are stopped, searched and questioned, and their phones are examined, the consultancy said. In some cases, soldiers also collect biometric data.

Israeli soldiers have also raided homes, businesses and schools, and fenced off farmland and water sources, according to media reports.