Israeli occupation forces pushed further into Syria’s Quneitra countryside on Monday, setting up military checkpoints and obstructing civilian movement, in what Damascus denounced as a flagrant violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement.
According to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), an Israeli unit comprising three vehicles, two Hilux trucks and a van, entered the southern village of Breiqa and erected a checkpoint near Kabas Spring, a local water source.
Another Israeli force, consisting of five military vehicles, moved along the road between Jbata Al-Khashab and Ain Al-Bayda, where troops established a second checkpoint, searched vehicles, and disrupted local transit.
These incursions follow a similar operation Sunday, when Israeli troops entered the village of Ruwaihana in the same region.
SANA reported that Israel continues to breach the 1974 accord with ongoing raids, arbitrary arrests, forced displacement of civilians, property destruction, and the razing of agricultural lands across southern Syria.
The Syrian de facto government renewed its demand for a complete and unconditional Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Syrian territory, labeling Tel Aviv’s actions illegal under international law.
Damascus called on the international community to fulfill its responsibility and pressure Israel to halt its violations and return to the terms of the disengagement agreement.
Signed in 1974 after the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war, the disengagement accord created a demilitarized buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces, monitored by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). The agreement delineated two lines, Alpha and Bravo, to keep both militaries apart.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Israel would not withdraw from the demilitarized zone in southern Syria. While expressing nominal openness to a disarmament deal, he emphasized Israel’s intention to maintain its military presence.
His statement came a day after de facto leader of Syria Ahmad Al-Sharaa cautiously accused Israel of exporting domestic turmoil by intensifying cross-border aggression. Al-Sharaa said Israel had conducted over 1,000 air raids and 400 ground incursions into Syria since the Assad government dismantled.
Netanyahu added that Israel expects Syria to enforce a “demilitarized buffer zone” stretching from Damascus to the occupied Golan Heights, territory seized by Israel in 1967 and annexed in 1981, in a move never recognized by the international community.
Following the December 2024 toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s government by armed opposition forces, Israel unilaterally declared the 1974 agreement defunct. Israeli troops then seized the UN buffer zone and moved into the Jabal Al-Sheikh area bordering the occupied Golan, citing alleged militia threats as justification.
Last month, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution demanding Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights. The resolution passed with 123 countries in favor, seven opposed—including Israel and the United States—and 41 abstentions.
“Israel will not return to the 1967 borders, and it will never give up the Golan. Not now, not ever” wrote Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the UN, on X.
