Israeli forces expand incursions into southern Syria countryside

Israeli forces carried out a new military incursion into southern Syria at dawn on Saturday, advancing into the southern countryside of Quneitra, according to local sources.

Residents said an Israeli military force entered the area from the outskirts of the town of Bir Ajam, moving toward the village of Bariqa in southern Syria.

Local sources told The New Arab's Arabic sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the incursion included eight military vehicles, made up of four Toyota Hilux pickup trucks and four Humvee armoured vehicles.

The vehicles entered the village of Bariqa before two vehicles of each type continued toward the old village of Bariqa, without establishing any military checkpoint in the area.

The incursion follows a similar operation carried out by Israeli forces on Friday in the western countryside of Daraa. According to the same sources, an Israeli patrol consisting of three military vehicles advanced toward the Jumluh company area in the Yarmouk Basin.

At the same time, three other Israeli military vehicles entered the towns of Ruwayhina and northern Umm al-Adham in the central Quneitra countryside.

The sources said Israeli forces set up a temporary checkpoint on the al-Sadd road linking the towns of Umm al-Adham and al-Mushairfa, where they searched passing vehicles before later withdrawing toward a newly established military base in the al-Adnaniyah area.

The latest movements come amid a steady expansion of Israeli military occupation in parts of southern Syria following the collapse of the Assad regime.

Since then, Israeli forces have moved beyond previously held positions along the occupied Golan Heights, establishing new military bases, checkpoints, and buffer zones inside Syrian territory.

Israeli officials have described these deployments as temporary security measures, while Syrian residents and local authorities have accused Israel of exploiting the power vacuum to entrench a de facto land grab and reshape control over border areas. Incursions by Israeli forces into southern Syria have become an almost daily reality, with Tel Aviv also carrying out deadly airstrikes.

In a separate development, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carried out a wide-scale campaign of raids on Friday evening in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, resulting in the arrest of several young men amid heightened military activity.

Local sources from the Deir Ezzor countryside told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that an SDF military force raided the al-Latwa neighbourhood in the town of Dhiban, east of the province, deploying a large military convoy heavily reinforced with fighters and weapons.

The force stormed several homes in the neighbourhood and arrested four local young men before later withdrawing from the area.

The sources added that the raids were accompanied by intensive drone activity across a wide area stretching from the city of al-Mayadin to the towns of Dhiban, al-Hawaij, and al-Shuhayl in eastern Deir Ezzor, triggering tension and fear among residents.

According to the sources, two explosions were heard, followed by heavy gunfire coming from the direction of the al-Alwa area in the town of Dhiban.

The sounds coincided with the SDF raid operations, without confirmed information about injuries or casualties.