Israel Intensifies Aggression on Syria

Featured image: Israeli armed vehicles block a road leading to the town Quneitra, Syria on January 5 from last year. Source: AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy.

Israel has intensified military operations inside Syria in recent days, with repeated ground incursions in Daraa and Quneitra, and airstrikes reaching as far as Idlib. These attacks are taking place alongside renewed Yankee imperialism-controlled talks between Israeli and Syrian officials, which started on August 23. Even though, there is no declared war and no aggression by the Syrian people, the Israelis continue violating the Syrian national sovereignty.

In southern Syria, Israeli forces have continued near-daily incursions into the villages and rural areas around Quneitra and Daraa, with Syrian reports describing checkpoints, searches of civilians and vehicles, raids on homes, interrogation and detentions.

Early August 17, Israeli forces entered Abidin village in western Daraa, southern Syria, at dawn with more than 10 vehicles. Soldiers reportedly surrounded parts of the village, searched the area, and detained four youths; two were later released, while the status and location of the other two were unclear.

The raid followed an earlier Israeli operation to reopen a road that local peasants had blocked to hinder Israeli troop movements. Israeli forces reportedly cut down several olive trees to improve visibility along the route:

Israeli forces have maintained occupation beyond the former disengagement line since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024. On August 18, Israel widened the scope of its operations with eight strikes on the Abu al-Duhur military airbase in Idlib, damaging runways and facilities. Israel has also continued strikes in the south. On August 22, an Israeli drone struck near Beit Jinn village, west of Damascus, hitting a vehicle and injuring a civilian.