Israel Detains Two in Southern Syria Amid Expanded Military Operations

Israeli forces arrested two individuals in southern Syria on Monday after firing at them as they approached a military post. The Israeli military stated that its forces observed the two men on a motorcycle heading towards a military site in what Israel calls the "defensive buffer zone." The troops initiated a stop, which included firing at the individuals before detaining them. No Israeli soldiers were reported injured.

These actions occurred concurrently with ongoing Israeli excavation, inspection, and demolition activities in the rural areas of Quneitra and Damascus. The Israeli military announced that on Sunday, forces from the Carmeli Brigade conducted operations in southern Syria, claiming to have "cleared the defensive buffer zone of combat assets belonging to the former Syrian regime." During this operation, they reported finding three anti-tank mines and two explosive devices.

The Israeli military asserted its intention to "continue operating in the defensive buffer zone in southern Syria and remove any threat targeting the citizens of the State of Israel and the army forces," referring to areas where Israel has increased its military presence since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Israel also resumed excavation work on the "Sufa 53" project in rural Quneitra on Sunday, alongside incursions into the villages of Saida al-Jolan and Abidin in rural western Daraa.

In western rural Damascus, Israeli forces detonated an abandoned building on Monday during a military incursion between the towns of Beit Jin and Beit Jin farm. In Quneitra, Syrian Civil Defense teams were reportedly prevented from reaching a fire site near the town of Al-Hamidiya, amid Israeli reconnaissance drone activity and flares, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Israeli forces also searched civilian homes in the western quarter of Al-Asbah village in Quneitra.

These Israeli movements have drawn condemnation from Turkey and Egypt. Ankara urged Israel to end its violations of Syrian territory and withdraw immediately from occupied areas. Burhanettin Duran, Turkey's Head of Communications, called the resumption of work on "Sufa 53" a "new violation" of international law and the 1974 disengagement agreement. Egypt's Foreign Ministry also condemned the ongoing Israeli violations of Syrian sovereignty and military construction, deeming them a "blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, and of the rules of international law and the 1974 disengagement agreement."