Israeli occupation forces infiltrated the town of Jabata al-Khashab in the northern countryside of Quneitra at dawn on Wednesday, and raided a number of houses, coinciding with another incursion in the vicinity of the town of Beit Jinn in the western countryside of Damascus, and shelling the Yarmouk Basin area in the western countryside of Daraa with an artillery shell, a day after they carried out raids on an airport in the Idlib countryside.
The Israeli army also announced that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir toured southern Syria on Wednesday morning, accompanied by a number of senior officers, and during the tour received a “security briefing on the field situation” and met with reserve soldiers deployed in the area.
These moves coincide with the continuation of the “Sufa 53” project to build a military road inside the buffer zone in the Quneitra countryside, adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights, southern Syria.
The official Syrian news agency SANA reported that the occupying forces fired an artillery shell towards the valley located west of the town of Abdeen in the western Daraa countryside, without any reports of injuries or material damage as a result of the shell falling.
In detailing the incursion into the western Damascus countryside, a security source from the town of Beit Jinn that an occupation patrol had entered the Sahl al-Wata neighborhood towards the Bat al-Warda hill in the vicinity of the town.
The source explained that Israeli forces set up a military checkpoint at around 2:00 PM, which lasted for an hour, in the Al-Wata Plain area, near Tal Bat Al-Warda in Beit Jinn, west of Damascus.
He added that the occupation forces came from the military base of Taloul al-Hamr in the Quneitra countryside, which is one of the bases that the Israeli forces established in the region after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and which is about 20 kilometers away from Beit Jinn.
According to the source, the military force included three vehicles, each carrying about eight soldiers, in addition to a military transport bus.
The Quneitra Media Directorate reported that the occupation forces are continuing their bulldozing and tree-cutting operations in the Al-Shuhar forest in the town of Jabata al-Khashab.
The spokesman added that during the operation, Israeli forces searched one of the houses and vandalized the furniture, under the pretext of searching for weapons, but the search did not result in finding any weapons, nor did it lead to the arrest of anyone.
Official sources said that no information was received about the nature of the incursion or its causes, and no human casualties or material damage were recorded as a result of the operation.
In the northern countryside of Quneitra, the Quneitra Media Directorate reported that the occupation forces are continuing their bulldozing and tree-cutting operations in the Al-Shuhar forest in the town of Jabata Al-Khashab.
The Directorate explained, through its official channels, on Tuesday, that Israeli occupation army bulldozers are continuing to bulldoze lands and cut down trees in the Al-Shuhar forest located within the lands of the town of Jabata al-Khashab in the northern countryside of Quneitra, noting that the bulldozing works include areas of forest lands and the removal of trees, amidst the continuation of field monitoring and follow-up of developments in the region.
According to field sources, the daily Israeli military movements in Quneitra Governorate are accompanied by the continuation of excavation and bulldozing work related to the “Sufa 53” project, whose work has extended to the villages of Kodna and Al-Asha in the far south of the governorate, within a route that runs from the north of Quneitra to its south.
Salam Harouni, a field activist from the town of Jabata al-Khashab, that the occupation authorities began implementing a military project called “Sufa 53” in mid-2022, and its work started from the outskirts of the town of Hadar in the Quneitra countryside, before extending towards the villages of Jabata al-Khashab, al-Hamidiyah, al-Qahtaniyah, Ruwayhina, Bir Ajam, Bariqa and al-Asha, reaching the border triangle in the far south of the Quneitra Governorate.
Harouni explained that the project is essentially based on the construction of a military road inside Syrian territory along the occupied Golan Heights, noting that its implementation has expanded in several stages, and included the construction of a fortified road about eight meters wide, supported by earthen embankments, trenches and observation points along its route inside the buffer zone, which, according to her description, representsa violation of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement.
She added that “the pace of the project’s implementation, which continues to this day, accelerated towards the end of 2024, following the collapse of the previous regime in the southern regions.”
According to Harouni, the Israeli incursion into the buffer zone reaches depths of approximately 300 meters in several locations, particularly around the villages of Hader, Jaba al-Khashab, and Bir Ajam. This has resulted in the “seizure of vast areas of agricultural land, as well as the near-total destruction of their vegetation, including pastures and wild trees that were a primary source of livelihood for the local population.”
According to the source, the implementation of the “Sufa 53” project comes “within a broader Israeli plan inside Syrian territory, through the establishment of a military road extending from the north of Quneitra to its south, and including along its route observation points and deployment sites.”
According to the source, the implementation of the “Sufa 53” project comes “within a broader Israeli plan inside Syrian territory, through the establishment of a military road extending from the north of Quneitra to its south, and including along its route observation points and deployment sites.”
Simultaneously, Israeli military movements continue in various areas of southern Syria, including incursions, raids and searches in the Quneitra and Damascus countryside, bulldozing and tree-cutting operations in the Quneitra countryside, in addition to artillery shelling that targeted the Yarmouk Basin area in the western Daraa countryside, without any reported injuries or material damage according to the available official data.
Meanwhile, the Israeli website “Walla” quoted an Israeli official in the security establishment as saying that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is a dangerous figure, and an extremist jihadist who is hostile to Israel.
He added: “The Sharia and senior Syrian officials are pushing for the purchase of systems that would limit Tel Aviv’s freedom of action, and this issue was raised with the Americans, with the explanation that Israel considers it a direct threat to its security and has drawn a red line in this regard.”
According to the website, Israel has drawn a red line against Syria purchasing systems that would compromise Tel Aviv's freedom of action in Syrian airspace.
