UPDATE - Israeli forces carry out new incursion in Syria’s Quneitra countryside

UPDATES WITH DETAILS

By Mohammad Sio and Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Israeli army on Friday carried out a new ground incursion into the Syrian village of Saida al-Hanout in the Quneitra countryside in the south amid daily violations of the country’s sovereignty, Syrian state media reported.

Six Israeli vehicles, including three Humvees, two white Hilux trucks and a black van advanced toward the village, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said.

Another force consisting of four vehicles also moved toward Beer Ajam and Bariqa villages and carried out extensive excavation works in the area north of the Bariqa dam, the same source said.

On Thursday, a three-vehicle Israeli patrol advanced into the towns of Samdaniya al-Sharqiya and al-Ajraf in the northern Quneitra countryside.

Israeli forces set up a temporary military checkpoint between the towns near a demolished water tank in the area.

Israeli artillery also fired four shells on the outskirts of Koya town in the western Daraa countryside in southwestern Syria.

No information was yet available about casualties.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army or Syrian authorities on the reports.

Syrian government data shows that since December 2024, Israel has carried out over 1,000 airstrikes on Syria and more than 400 cross-border raids into the southern provinces.

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated a 1974 agreement with Syria.