Israeli Forces Injure Shepherd, Target Media in Syria's Quneitra

An Israeli occupation forces raid in Syria's Quneitra province resulted in the injury of a shepherd and the targeting of a media crew. The incident occurred near the village of Bir Ajm in southern Quneitra, where Israeli forces reportedly opened fire on a shepherd grazing his flock, wounding him. Simultaneously, a Syrian media crew covering the events in Bir Ajm was also fired upon by Israeli forces, though no journalists were injured. These actions are part of ongoing Israeli military incursions into southern Syria, which have led to restrictions on farming and livestock herding.

Farmers in the Daraa and Quneitra governorates have reported significant economic losses due to Israeli measures. These include the establishment of military sites and checkpoints, denial of access to agricultural lands, and the destruction of olive groves, depriving families of their primary income sources. One farmer, Abu Hussein Damar, stated that residents were prevented from accessing over 200 dunams of land used for early vegetables and hundreds of olive trees since 2024. He estimated the loss per dunam at 10 to 12 million old Syrian pounds (approximately $690-$830), with some farmers losing between 200 to 300 million pounds ($14,000-$21,000).

Farmers have expressed their determination to hold onto their land, with Abu Hussein Damar emphasizing that ancestral olive trees, planted a century ago, will not be abandoned. He called on the United Nations and the Security Council to pressure Israel to withdraw and allow residents to resume their agricultural activities. Another farmer, Abu Qusai Damar, detailed how Israeli forces established checkpoints and barracks, controlled the "Al-Jazeera" area with heavy weapons, and blocked access to farmland, resulting in annual losses of at least 200 million old Syrian pounds.

In the village of Al-Ma'arriyah, a farmer named Abu Ammar reported that Israeli military vehicles destroyed his 11-dunam olive grove, containing about 400 trees, on October 18th. The grove, planted between 2006 and 2007, produced approximately ten tons annually and represented his family's sole source of income. He noted that replacement trees would take five to ten years to reach previous production levels.

These Israeli military actions in southern Syria have intensified since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime on December 8, 2024, and the occupation of the buffer zone in violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement. The operations now extend from Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside to the Yarmouk Basin, involving raids, civilian detentions, and the establishment of new military outposts.