Israel forces have been raiding southern Syria for almost a year, following the ouster of the Assad regime [Getty/file photo]
Israeli forces arrested at least three Syrian men during an incursion on Friday in the country’s southwest, according to local media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The raid, which lasted around an hour, took place in the village of Jamla, located in the countryside of the Daraa governorate, and east of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The incursion saw Israeli soldiers raid the village’s streets, the deployment of six Israeli military vehicles before they withdrew towards the occupied Golan Heights, and the setting up of a military checkpoint.
Syrian authorities have yet to comment on the matter, while the identity of those arrested has also not been revealed.
This operation comes at a time when Israel is intensifying its security and military activity in southern Syria, through repeated raids into border areas, specifically in the countryside of Daraa and Quneitra. Israel has been carrying out such raids since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime late last year, in breach of the country’s sovereignty, which is undergoing a fragile transitional period.
Israel’s security threats against Syria, as well as an incident in August where settlers attempted to establish a new settlement in Quneitra, have been a matter of discussion in Damascus and on the international stage over the past year.
Talks of a security deal between Damascus and Tel Aviv in response to the crisis are reportedly in the works, though a deal has yet to be reached.
Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said negotiations and an eventual deal are a “necessity” and that any agreement would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity, while also being monitored by the UN.
The previous day, Israeli forces had carried out a raid in the villages of Ain Ziwan and Ain al-Abd in the Quneitra countryside, located in the Golan Heights. Several military vehicles entered a limited distance into Syrian territory, triggering a security alert in the area.
Israel has also sought to exploit sectarian tensions in Syria, offering “support” to the likes of the Druze community while striking government and military sites. Experts say Israel is stoking such tensions in a bid to advance its settlement ambitions in Syria.
