Israel cancels 'provocative' tourist tours inside occupied Syria

The Israeli army announced on Friday the cancellation of all planned "tourist tours" to border areas inside illegally occupied Syrian territory, which had been arranged for Israeli tourists accompanied by guides holding official permits.

In a statement, the Israeli army explained that the decision came following an "operational situation assessment," adding that "entry to the fence-crossing routes will not be permitted at this stage," in reference to areas seized by the Israeli army beginning in December 2024, adjacent to the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the cancellations affected three main routes: the Ruqad River, the Hamma Bridge on the banks of the Yarmouk River, and the Hejaz Railway tunnel in the Yarmouk area.

On the other hand, a fourth route, located on Mount Hermon overlooking the Lebanese border, was excluded from the cancellation decision, with the army confirming that this path will remain temporarily open for now.

Days earlier, the Israeli military had notified potential Israeli tourists of its intention to organise special tours inside Syrian lands beyond the border strip, in an unprecedented move aimed at reinforcing what it calls "security tourism," under the direct protection of the army. 

According to Haaretz newspaper, the surprise invitation to the tours came from the Northern Command of the Israeli army and Division 210, in coordination with the Golan Regional Council.

The tours include areas that are normally off-limits - locations recently occupied by Israel and classified as being outside the border fence of the buffer zone.

According to Israeli media outlets, one of the planned tours was expected to include a visit to an observation point on Mount Dov, overlooking southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley.

Some of the areas included in the tours were previously controlled by the former Assad regime’s forces prior to its fall, while others were taken over by Israel later.

Despite Israeli military assurances that the initiative is “entirely safe,” this has been widely questioned in Israel due to the sensitive nature of the border regions involved—particularly in light of the repeated security incidents that have occurred there in recent years.

Yedioth Ahronoth described the move as unprecedented since the founding of Israel, noting that many of the sites involved in the tours are considered closed military zones. This gives the activity a provocative character and has stirred concerns about covert expansionist aims masked as tourism.

Almost as soon a Syrian rebel coalition overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel exploited the situation by seizing Syrian territory adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights in southwestern Syria.

Since then, it has unleashed unprecedented airstrikes on Syrian targets, killing dozens of civilians and destroying key infrastructure in the country. It has also issued numerous threats against the Syrian government, warning its security forces to stay out of southern Syria.