GENEVA (MNTV) — Israeli military operations in Syrian territory may amount to war crimes, a United Nations inquiry has warned, as Israeli forces continue raids, detentions and incursions across southern Syria.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria issued the warning, saying Israel’s military presence and operations inside Syria have become increasingly entrenched.
The commission was particularly alarmed by repeated ground incursions, patrols, raids and searches that have disrupted communities and displaced residents.
“We are deeply alarmed by violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by Israel on Syrian territory, which may amount to war crimes,” UN Commissioner Fionnuala Ni Aolain told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The commission said Israeli forces had detained 49 people on Syrian territory as of September, including two children. Some detainees were reportedly being held incommunicado, raising concerns about possible torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
The UN warning came as Israeli forces carried out another raid in Syria’s southern Quneitra province, underscoring what the inquiry described as an increasingly sustained pattern of Israeli military activity on Syrian territory.
Israeli troops entered the village of Breqa on Tuesday and stormed and searched a house, according to Syrian state broadcaster Al-Ikhbariah, in the latest operation in a series of raids and artillery attacks across Quneitra.
The latest incursion followed several days of Israeli attacks in the province. On Sunday, Israeli forces reportedly fired an artillery shell toward the outskirts of Eastern Samadaniya, while six shells were fired a day earlier toward the outskirts of Al-Rafid in southern Quneitra.
Five Israeli military vehicles also entered the area around Al-Rafid before withdrawing, with no arrests reported.
Breqa has repeatedly been targeted by Israeli forces in recent months. On July 31, three Israeli military vehicles entered the village, established a checkpoint and searched people passing through the area, according to Anadolu Agency.
The repeated raids have contributed to what the UN commission described as a growing pattern of Israeli military activity involving incursions, patrols, searches and arrests.
Southern Syrian provinces, particularly Quneitra and Daraa, have reportedly experienced near-daily Israeli raids and attacks.
Israel has occupied most of Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967. Following the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government in December 2024, Israel declared the collapse of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement and moved into the Syrian buffer zone and other strategic locations, including the Syrian side of Mount Hermon.
The expansion of Israeli military activity has drawn condemnation because it has extended Israel’s presence deeper into Syrian territory while communities already facing the consequences of years of war remain vulnerable to further displacement and military pressure.
The UN inquiry said accountability for international crimes would be essential to Syria’s transition and warned that selective justice could deepen grievances and obstruct reconciliation.
Its findings place Israel’s actions under renewed international scrutiny at a time when Israeli forces are continuing operations that Damascus considers violations of Syrian sovereignty.
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said in July that Damascus was working with other states toward a security agreement with Israel, arguing that a successful agreement could open the way to broader peace while maintaining Syria’s claim to the occupied Golan Heights.
For now, however, the continuing Israeli raids and territorial incursions threaten to further undermine efforts to stabilize southern Syria.
The UN warning that such conduct may constitute war crimes adds a potentially grave international-law dimension to Israel’s expanding military footprint in the country.