DAMASCUS - Syrian state media said Israeli fire killed a man in Quneitra province, in the country’s south near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, as the foreign ministry decried the death of a civilian.
State news agency SANA reported that the man was killed in an attack by “an Israeli tank,” while state television said a car had been targeted. Syria’s foreign ministry, in a statement, condemned “in the strongest terms the crime committed by Israeli occupation forces in targeting a civilian car with a tank shell.” It said the attack “led to the death of a civilian,” calling it “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law” and urging the international community to help “stop these repeated violations.”
After the December 2024 overthrow of Syria’s longtime ruler, Bashar al-Assad, Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights. Israel has also carried out repeated incursions into Syrian territory since then, as well as airstrikes, and has said it wants a demilitarised zone in the country’s south. State media regularly report Israeli incursions and, at times, the detention of individuals in southern Syria.
On Friday, SANA reported that Israeli forces in Quneitra province had closed several roads “leading to new military positions that they have established in the area,” restricting the movement of local residents and farmers. It also said several Israeli vehicles had set up a temporary checkpoint in a village, where they searched passers-by. Last month, Israel’s military said it had struck Syrian army camps in response to what it described as attacks against the Druze community in Sweida province, with the Syrian foreign ministry calling it “an outrageous assault.” The Israeli strikes came as conflict continues to roil the Middle East following attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran on February 28. Israel captured most of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed the areas under its control, a move not recognised by most of the international community. Despite the tensions, Israel and Syria’s new authorities have held several rounds of direct talks and have agreed to establish an intelligence-sharing mechanism as they edge toward a potential security agreement. (Bssnews)
