Israel continues to carry out illegal incursions into Syria from the occupied Golan Heights [Getty]
In a new Israeli incursion into southern Syria, an armed Israeli patrol reportedly infiltrated a farm near the town of Saida in southern Quneitra province in the early hours of Saturday, abducting two Syrian civilians and transferring them into Israeli-occupied territory in the Golan Heights.
Local residents told The New Arab’s sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the patrol raided the Hanout farm at around 2:00 a.m., kidnapping Firass al-Mohammed, a man in his 40s, and his teenage nephew Bashar al-Mohammed, a high school student.
The two men were taken across the ceasefire line into Israeli-held territory. Their fate remains unknown.
This latest incursion followed a separate Israeli military incursion the previous day, when several tanks and military vehicles advanced into the Syrian areas of Ruwayhina, al-Adnaniyah, and toward the al-Mantara dam.
Footage taken by local residents shows an Israeli patrol stopping two civilians on a motorcycle, subjecting them to a search, and later releasing them.
Notably, Israeli forces were also seen raising the Israeli flag for the first time over the site they recently seized at Tel al-Ahmar in Quneitra countryside – an unambiguous message to local Syrians that Israel considers the area to be under its control.
One resident of al-Rafid, a town in southern Quneitra province, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the situation has become intolerable.
“Our areas are subjected to daily Israeli assaults, which constantly instill fear and anxiety among residents and prevent farmers and shepherds from carrying out their daily work,” he said.
He added that Israeli occupation forces had seized large swathes of land adjacent to the border strip and around military outposts, banning locals from entering zones as far as 200 to 300 meters away.
The resident explained that UN peacekeeping forces (UNDOF) had placed warning signs along these newly imposed boundaries, effectively endorsing Israeli-imposed restrictions on Syrian land and holding civilians accountable if they cross them.
Israeli forces routinely fire warning shots at those approaching the restricted areas, sometimes targeting livestock directly. “They shoot in the air, or sometimes directly at sheep and goats, killing several,” the resident said.
In a contradictory move, Israeli forces have also attempted to win over local residents by distributing food aid, medical supplies, and medicine—offers that have been categorically rejected by most locals.
“It causes lasting hostility and feelings of revenge toward the occupation soldiers,” said the resident, describing the strategy as a form of coercive soft power.
Quneitra province spans roughly 1,200 square kilometres, of which nearly two-thirds – about 800 square kilometres – have been under Israeli occupation since 1967.
The remaining territory is under nominal Syrian sovereignty, with the presence of UN forces in a narrow buffer zone.
The province is strategically significant due to its elevated volcanic hills and its proximity to the Mount Hermon range, which has long hosted military outposts.
Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war and the weakening of central state authority, Israel has expanded its military footprint in the Golan region.
Under the pretext of border security and countering Iranian influence, Israeli forces have gradually extended control, including the seizure of new sites such as Tel al-Ahmar. This has allowed Israel to entrench and expand its de facto annexation of Syrian land while exploiting Syrian instability to reshape realities on the ground with impunity.
