DAMASCUS, (PIC)
An Israeli army patrol infiltrated the Al-Hanout farm in the town of Saida, located in the southern countryside of Quneitra, in southern Syria at dawn Saturday and abducted two local residents. The two men were taken to the occupied Golan Heights.
Residents of the town reported that the patrol raided the farm around 2 am, abducted a man and his nephew, and took them into the occupied Syrian territory. Their fate remains unknown.
This operation was preceded by the incursion of several Israeli military vehicles and tanks on Friday into the areas of Ruwayhina, Al-Adnaniyah, and the Al-Mantra Dam. Civilian footage captured an Israeli patrol stopping two individuals on a motorcycle, subjecting them to searches before releasing them. Israeli forces were also seen for the first time raising the Israeli flag over the site they had seized on Tel al-Ahmar in Quneitra’s countryside—an apparent message to locals that the site is now under Israeli control.
Residents say that the area is subjected to daily violations by the Israeli occupation army, causing constant fear and anxiety among locals and disrupting the daily work of farmers and shepherds.
They also noted that Israeli forces have seized large swaths of land near the border strip and around military positions, barring residents from approaching these areas within a range of 200 to 300 meters. The UN peacekeeping forces have placed warning signs prohibiting entry and hold locals responsible if they cross these newly imposed boundaries on their own land.
The occupation forces often issue warnings to those who come close by firing warning shots into the air or directly targeting sheep and goats, killing some of them. On the other hand, Israeli forces attempt almost daily to win over residents by offering food, medicine, and medical aid—offers that are broadly rejected by locals and fuel ongoing hostility and retaliatory actions against the occupation troops.
Quneitra Governorate spans approximately 1,200 square kilometers, but two-thirds of it—about 800 square kilometers—has been under Israeli control since 1967. The remaining third is under Syrian sovereignty, with UN forces present in the buffer zone.
The governorate is strategically located, linking Damascus to Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan. It also has distinctive geography, with dormant volcanic hills such as Tel al-Sha’ar and Tel al-Ahmar surrounding the city of Quneitra, while Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh) encircles the governorate—an area historically used for military purposes during past wars.
