QUNEITRA – A palpable sense of fear grips the residents of Quneitra, Syria, as reports of Israeli incursions, abductions, and sniper fire targeting Syrian civilians become increasingly frequent. This climate of terror is compounded by a feeling of abandonment by the Syrian government.
Across the rural landscape of the province, Israeli military vehicles have reportedly established checkpoints and conduct patrols. Some reports indicate the installation of barriers used to stop and search civilians. Abductions are said to often occur during the late hours of the night.
From the villages of Masahra, al-Duwaya al-Kabira, and throughout the Suwaysa region, as well as Khan Arnaba, Jabata al-Khashab, and Jaba, accounts of Israeli abductions and unchecked raids are widespread. Frustration is also directed towards the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross, organizations to which residents reportedly turn for assistance, often without success.
Many residents declined to be photographed, fearing subsequent arrest.
Fares Muhammad Qaryan spoke of the detention of his brother and nephew by Israeli forces, expressing his anger at the perceived indifference of the Syrian government.
Israel has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967. Following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israel expanded its occupation into southern Syria by approximately 400 square kilometers and declared the 1974 Disengagement Agreement null and void. Since then, military incursions have allegedly become more aggressive.
In al-Duwaya al-Kabira, Kona Ahmed Suleiman, speaking from her home facing a military outpost erected on a high hill just two kilometers away, recounted the arrest of her sons, Ahmed and Adnan, sons of Abd al-Hamid Karyan, by the Israeli army. She and the wife of one of her abducted sons described the anguish and pain caused by the abduction, reporting that the father of the two men suffered a stroke following their detention, especially since one of them, Ahmed, had recently been released from the notorious Sednaya prison.
