The most prominent of the groups behind the incursions in Syria is known as the \u201cBashan Pioneers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t Formed early last year, the Bashan Pioneers are a group of right-wing Israeli activists aiming to establish Jewish settlements inside Syria. They are named after the biblical region of Bashan, which includes part of modern-day Syria and neighboring Jordan.<\/p>\n Daraa must be \u2018filled with Jewish settlement\u2019<\/p>\n The group has its sights set on an area of southwestern Syria that includes the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Sweida, and hopes to establish a Jewish outpost there.<\/p>\n Part of this area, including the summit of Mount Hermon, is a \u201cbuffer zone\u201d Israel declared in December 2024, soon after the ouster of Syria\u2019s longtime autocratic ruler Bashar al-Assad in an insurgent offensive.<\/p>\n The region was known in Scripture for its fertile land and came to be associated with strength and divine providence. In the Bible, the Israelites under Moses conquered the Bashan from the mythical King Og and it was then handed to some of the Israelite tribes.<\/p>\n Members of the group claim a historical right to these lands and argue that their presence there will help Israel defend the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed.<\/p>\n Some claim that Israeli settlement of the areas would protect members of the Druze religious minority after violence erupted last year between Druze groups and Sunni Bedouin tribes and Syrian government security forces. Hundreds of civilians \u2014 mostly Druze \u2014 were killed in sectarian revenge attacks.<\/p>\n Amos Azaria, a Bashan Pioneers leader, said the group aims to establish a \u201chumanitarian corridor\u201d from Israel to the Druze enclave of Sweida by depopulating adjacent Sunni-majority areas.<\/p>\n \u201cThe entire Daraa district\u2026 must be cleared of the enemies seeking our destruction and instead be filled with Jewish settlement,\u201d said Azaria, a computer science professor at Ariel University.<\/p>\n Settlers normally establish outposts \u2014 which rights groups say are major drivers of settler violence and displacement of Palestinians \u2014 in the hope that one day Israel\u2019s government will legalize them. That\u2019s how many Jewish settlements in the West Bank got their start.<\/p>\n So far their incursions into Syria have been brief. The Israeli military has removed the activists before they have been able to build anything.<\/p>\n Videos on the group\u2019s X account from July 5 show a group of religious teens seated on the ground with their arms linked together, as soldiers try to pry them apart.<\/p>\n \u05d0\u05dc\u05d9\u05de\u05d5\u05ea \u05e7\u05e9\u05d4 \u05d1\u05de\u05d4\u05dc\u05da \u05e4\u05d9\u05e0\u05d5\u05d9 \u05de\u05d0\u05d7\u05d6 \u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d3\u05d9 \u05d1\u05d1\u05e9\u05df!! ????????????<\/p>\n \u05db\u05d5\u05d7\u05d5\u05ea \u05e6\u05d1\u05d0 \u05d5\u05de\u05e9\u05d8\u05e8\u05d4 \u05de\u05e7\u05d9\u05e4\u05d9\u05dd \u05d0\u05ea \u05e4\u05e2\u05d9\u05dc\u05d9 \u05d4\u05ea\u05e0\u05d5\u05e2\u05d4 \u05e9\u05d4\u05ea\u05d9\u05d9\u05e9\u05d1\u05d5 \u05d1\u05d1\u05e9\u05df. \u05dc\u05de\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05e4\u05e1\u05d9\u05d1\u05d9\u05d5\u05ea \u05de\u05d5\u05d7\u05dc\u05d8\u05ea \u05de\u05e6\u05d3 \u05d4\u05e4\u05e2\u05d9\u05dc\u05d9\u05dd, \u05ea\u05d5\u05e2\u05d3\u05d4 \u05d0\u05dc\u05d9\u05de\u05d5\u05ea \u05e7\u05e9\u05d4 \u05de\u05e6\u05d3 \u05d7\u05dc\u05e7 \u05de\u05db\u05d5\u05d7\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05d8\u05d7\u05d5\u05df. \u2014 \u05ea\u05e0\u05d5\u05e2\u05ea \u05d7\u05dc\u05d5\u05e6\u05d9 \u05d4\u05d1\u05e9\u05df (@HaluzeyHabashan) July 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n A second video shows soldiers shoving several of the activists and zip tying their hands behind their backs.\n<\/p>\n A video posted by the group in April shows several dozen activists waving Israeli flags and chanting on the roof of a house said to be on the outskirts of the Syrian village of Hader, in Quneitra, as Israeli soldiers look on.<\/p>\n Activists tout support from government ministers<\/p>\n The IDF says it takes a firm hand with the border-crossers. It has repeatedly condemned the group for diverting troops\u2019 attention from military operations and compromising their security.<\/p>\n It says it detains civilians caught crossing the border and hands them over to police, saying it \u201cexpects law enforcement authorities to bring those involved to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Channel 12 reported last week that no indictments have been filed so far.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the border-crossers say they have cozy relationships with members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government.<\/p>\n Several government ministers have expressed support for their cause, and the group\u2019s social media platforms document meetings it has held with at least two cabinet ministers, Amichay Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit) and Shlomo Karhi (Likud).<\/p>\n \u201cWe have support from friends in the government and many members of the Knesset,\u201d Azaria said.<\/p>\n Syrian officials have not commented publicly on the attempts by Israeli settler groups to enter Syria.<\/p>\n The Syrian government has condemned Israel\u2019s military presence in southern Syria and frequently calls for Israeli forces to withdraw and for the international community to intervene.<\/p>\n Israeli troops have carried out incursions and raids in areas of Syria outside the buffer zone, sometimes clashing with local residents, who have increasingly attempted to block roads to keep them out.<\/p>\n \t The Lebanese government has also paid little attention to a fringe Israeli settler group \u2014 \u201cUri Tzafon,\u201d or \u201cAwaken, O North\u201d \u2014 that has staged incursions into southern Lebanon. Like Syrian officials, the Lebanese government has focused on calling for withdrawal of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n Still, some have warned against entirely discounting the settler groups.<\/p>\n Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri wrote on X of the attempts by the Uri Tzafon group to enter the country, \u201cIt is true that they are a small and fringe group and they withdrew under orders from the Israeli army.\u201d<\/p>\n But he pointed out that the movement to settle the West Bank began with an embattled band of right-wing religious activists, known as Gush Emunim, \u201cwhich in its early days was a small group that faced some obstacles and difficulties.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\tA right-wing Israeli activist holds a sign which reads: \u201cIt\u2019s about time to settle in the Bashan,\u201d in the Golan Heights, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ariel Schalit)<\/p>\n
\u05d1\u05e0\u05d5\u05e1\u05e3 \u05de\u05d7\u05e8\u05d9\u05de\u05d9\u05dd \u05d4\u05db\u05d5\u05d7\u05d5\u05ea \u05d0\u05ea \u05de\u05db\u05e9\u05d9\u05e8\u05d9 \u05d4\u05d8\u05dc\u05e4\u05d5\u05df \u05db\u05d3\u05d9 \u05e9\u05dc\u05d0 \u05d9\u05d5\u05db\u05dc\u05d5 \u05dc\u05ea\u05e2\u05d3 \u05d0\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05dc\u05d9\u05de\u05d5\u05ea \u05e9\u05de\u05d5\u05e4\u05e2\u05dc\u05ea \u05db\u05dc\u05e4\u05d9\u05d4\u05dd!! pic.twitter.com\/tJ85bi8tSJ<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26209631139096.jpg\")
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\n\t\tA metal board in the shape of a gunman sits on an old bunker at an observation point on Mount Bental in the Golan Heights, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ariel Schalit)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/F260228MG54-e1775253849528.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIDF soldiers at a staging area near the Israeli border with Syria, February 28, 2026. (Michael Giladi\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
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