Southern Syria: Israeli raids and arrests take toll on residents
At least 51 Syrians are being held in Israel, according to Al Jazeera. A monitoring group counted 280 violations of the 1974 disengagement agreement in September.
Symbolic image · Photo: Christian Koehn / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Residents of southern Syria are increasingly suffering from Israeli military operations, according to an Al Jazeera report. According to the broadcaster, at least 51 Syrians remain in detention in Israel, many of whom have been moved between prisons. Former detainees describe arrests without charge, lack of access to lawyers and mistreatment; the accounts cannot be verified. The Red Cross has had no access to the detainees since Oct. 7, 2023.
The Syrian Sijil Center documented 280 Israeli violations of the 1974 agreement in September, including incursions, raids, arrests and shelling. Since August, artillery fire has regularly hit farmland. In late August, Israeli tanks temporarily blocked access to a base of the UN observer mission UNDOF, which reports restricted patrols.
Israel justifies its presence with security interests and the protection of the Druze community, which Damascus rejects. According to the report, talks on a security agreement have largely stalled since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.