Gaza Herald – The Israeli military shelled agricultural lands in the countryside of Quneitra province in southern Syria on Sunday. This attack occurred simultaneously with the resumption of excavation works by Israeli forces in the area.
The Syrian state-owned Al-Ekhbariya TV channel reported that occupation forces fired an artillery shell at farmland located between Barqiya village and Kudna town in the southern countryside of Quneitra.
These actions coincide with Israeli troops restarting digging operations along the separation line with the occupied Syrian Golan on Sunday. The excavations took place west of Al-Asha village in the Quneitra countryside.
Damascus described these activities as a continuation of violations within the buffer zone covered by the Disengagement Agreement. Israel began implementing the project under the name “Sufa 53” or “The Great Storm” in mid-2022.
The operation initially started near the town of Hadr in the north of Quneitra before extending across the towns of Jabata al-Khashab and Al-Humayda. It subsequently reached Al-Qahitaniya, Rawihina, Bir Ajam, and Barqiya in the center of the province.
Previous statements from residents to Anadolu Agency indicated that the expansion of the project has rendered thousands of dunams of agricultural land unsuitable for farming and grazing. The works have also negatively impacted water flow and the natural infrastructure of the region.
Since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime on December 8, 2024, Israel has expanded the scope of its military operations in Syria. Israeli forces advanced into the buffer zone in the occupied Syrian Golan and adjacent sites.
Syria demands the withdrawal of occupation forces from the territories they have advanced into. Damascus reaffirms its commitment to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement governing the area.
This report was produced in the Gaza Herald newsroom.
