Israeli Forces Attack Syrian Shepherd, Kill Sheep in Quneitra

An Israeli military force on Thursday attacked a Syrian shepherd and trampled a number of his sheep to death during a raid in the southern Quneitra countryside, near the occupied Syrian Golan. The Syrian state news agency, SANA, reported that the Israeli force entered the area between the village of Al-Asha and the town of Al-Rafid, where they assaulted the shepherd and killed his flock before withdrawing. The report did not specify the shepherd's condition or the size of the Israeli unit involved.

This incident follows a similar event two days prior, when Israeli forces reportedly detained a Syrian civilian near Al-Rafid while he was tending sheep. He was released the following day, according to Syrian accounts.

The Quneitra region, particularly areas close to the Golan Heights, frequently experiences incursions by the Israeli military. These often include temporary checkpoints, detentions and interrogations of Syrian citizens, vehicle and home searches, and occasional shelling.

The attack occurred one day after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad addressed the UN General Assembly, detailing Israeli actions in Syria. He stated that since late 2024, Israel had conducted approximately 500 airstrikes and artillery raids and over 1,200 incursions, along with around 300 detentions of Syrians. Assad condemned these actions as threats to Syria's stability and reiterated Damascus's rejection of Israeli attempts to impose new realities on the ground, affirming that the Golan remains Syrian territory and that Israeli annexation measures are void under UN Security Council Resolution 497. He also reaffirmed Syria's commitment to the 1974 disengagement agreement and demanded Israeli withdrawal from Syrian territory.