Israel Incursions Violate HLP Rights in Daraa and Quneitra

Following the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024 and the withdrawal of its military units from positions along the Israeli border, Israeli forces have launched a series of limited but sustained incursions in the provinces of Quneitra and Daraa, involving the repeated deployment and withdrawal of mobile surveillance points supported by military vehicles and occasionally fortified with earth barriers, without establishing permanent military bases or exercising direct control over populated areas. These actions represent a breach of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. 

During these attacks, Israeli forces took control of military positions, agricultural lands, and water sources. Some residents could no longer work their land and were deprived of their livelihoods. Armed clashes broke out, causing damage to homes and targeting infrastructure.

Daraa

Immediately after the Assad regime’s fall, Israeli forces seized the Al-Jazeera military post near the towns of Kuwayya and Maariya, close to the border strip in western Daraa countryside. Residents told The Syria Report that the Israeli incursion extended approximately six kilometres from the border strip into the two towns.

When Israeli forces attempted to establish a military outpost in the Al-Manshiyya area of Kuwayya, they repeatedly called on locals to negotiate. However, they refused. Later, the Israeli forces used a drone equipped with loudspeakers to call on residents to form a delegation for talks. The residents consulted the transitional administration in Damascus, which advised them to negotiate directly with the Israeli forces. This account was confirmed to The Syria Report by local residents interviewed in Kuwayya in late March. Consequently, the residents formed a representative delegation that met Israeli forces at the Al-Manshiyya outpost. The Israelis offered medical and food aid, along with fuel, in exchange for non-confrontation. The Syrian delegation declined the offer.

Subsequently, Israeli forces demanded that the residents of Kuwayya and Maariya hand over their personal weapons, including hunting rifles used to protect crops from wild animals. The residents refused, leading to armed clashes on March 25, when an Israeli military patrol attempted to advance into Kuwayya and was confronted by local men. After around two hours of intermittent fighting, the patrol withdrew. Israeli forces shelled the town with several rounds, killing seven people and damaging some homes.

Sources told The Syria Report that, after seizing agricultural land around the two towns, Israeli forces erected earth barriers around the area, declared it a military zone, and prohibited farmers from approaching. This action led to significant losses in early-season vegetable crops planted across dozens of hectares.

The negative consequences extended to beekeepers, who were barred from accessing the valley area between the two towns, where their hives were kept. This led to the collapse of bee colonies and the loss of beehives – many of which were the sole source of income for their owners. Livestock farmers also suffered, as they were prevented from grazing their goats and cattle on local lands.

Quneitra

In Quneitra, Israeli forces similarly seized military sites on Jabal Al-Sheikh/Mount Hermon overlooking the governorate shortly after the regime’s fall. Since then, they have continued expanding into the buffer zone around the town of Hadar in Quneitra. The forces seized the Ain Al-Tinah well, the main source of drinking water for the village of Hadar. They also set up a checkpoint on the Ain Al-Tinah road, at the site of the old international emergency post, barring residents from accessing their agricultural land beyond the barrier.

Additionally, they took control of the Qars An-Nafl site north of the U.N. forces’ position and began fortifying their presence there – indicating a move to strengthen military footholds at strategic points overlooking nearby villages.

Israeli forces seized a herd of cattle while it was grazing in the Rasem Al-Zaarourah area, part of the village of Al-Rafid in the southern Quneitra countryside, and moved it to the Tel Al-Jalaah barracks in the occupied Golan. Local sources from Al-Rafid reported similar incidents involving flocks of sheep, some of which were directly fired upon. In April, Israeli forces detained more than 550 sheep in Al-Rafid and transferred them near Tel Al-Jalaah.

Israeli forces also occupied the Tel Ahmar base in the southeastern Quneitra countryside. From there, they fired heavily at solar panels powering a water well near the base, rendering the station inoperative. The well is considered a vital water source for the area, supplying the towns of Al-Asbah and Al-Asha, along with seven other villages in southern Quneitra. If attacks on civilian infrastructure persist, the region could face a severe water crisis.