Israel has carried out attacks and ground raids in southern Syria, while intensifying air strikes and demolitions across southern Lebanon, despite separate US-backed diplomatic tracks aimed at ending hostilities.
Israeli forces have shelled a Syrian town and entered another near the occupied Golan Heights in the past 24 hours, pro-government media said, in the first such breach since the two sides met in Amman to discuss a security deal at the beginning of this week.
The US-brokered meeting on Sunday discussed halting Israeli attacks on Syria and the return of Israeli forces to a 1974 armistice line adjacent to Golan, the strategic plateau occupied by Israel for almost six decades.
Attacks and incursions have escalated in the past two months, with Israel accusing Turkey of expanding its military presence in Syria. Turkey is the most powerful regional backer of Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara. He commanded militant brigades that overthrew Bashar Al Assad on December 8, 2024. The new leader quickly changed direction, aligning with the US and abandoning previous anti-Israeli rhetoric.
Israeli forces on Wednesday entered the village of Turnejeh in Quneitra governorate, near the 1974 line, and searched a house there, Syrian state television said. They shelled the outskirts of Beit Jinn, 10km to the north-east. There were no reported casualties.
Beit Jinn, which is built on high ground, has been a regular target of Israeli shelling and occasional incursions to confiscate weapons and arrest what Israel describes as people who pose a threat to its troops.
Israel carried out intensified strikes across southern Lebanon, meanwhile, with a wave of attacks targeting Ali Al Taher Hill, near Nabatieh, the Lebanese National News Agency reported.
Israeli attacks were recorded on Wednesday night and into the early hours of Thursday near the contested and strategically significant Ali Al Taher ridge line, where the Israeli military is poised for, but has yet to carry out, a full offensive.
Israeli shelling and air strikes at dawn also targeted towns and villages including Haris, Mansouri, Mayfadoun, Zawtar Al Charqiyeh and Srebbine.
Despite a US-mediated ceasefire in effect in Lebanon, Israeli troops continue to occupy dozens of Lebanese villages as part of a self-declared “yellow line” buffer zone.
Israeli forces have also continuously pushed beyond the yellow line to expand their control of Lebanese territory, accompanied by a wider wave of attacks and demolitions.
A regional security source said in the past 10 days, Israel has released several of the 30 Syrians its forces had arrested and detained after incursions in Quneitra and the Deraa governorate in the south. However, Israeli raids to find weapons and suspected enemies have also increased.
“When the two sides talk, the Israelis signal to the Syrians that they don't want these territories but at the same time they are increasing military activity there,” the source said.
In 1973, Syria launched a failed war to regain the Golan Heights. Israeli troops advanced close to Damascus, then withdrew. Israel ended up keeping most of the Golan. The 1974 deal established a demilitarised zone and restricted the type of weapons and security forces that Syria and Israel were allowed to keep nearby.
Israeli forces crossed the armistice line as soon as Al Assad was removed on December 8, 2024 and now control hundreds more square kilometres of Syrian territory. They have also conducted hundreds of strikes on Syria since the former regime was toppled.
Tension had further escalated after Israel attacked a Syrian airbase near the Turkish border, claiming Ankara was looking to establish a military presence. The claims were denied by Syria and Turkey. The strikes also led Tom Barrack, US envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey, to call for de-escalation. This culminated in an Amman meeting, which sources said marked a breakthrough.
On Tuesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz visited Mount Hermon, where Israeli forces overran abandoned Syrian positions as soon as Assad fell. During the visit, Mr Katz appeared in a video with Damascus behind him.
He said the Israeli army mounts “daily activity here to thwart threats, to eliminate remnants of the old regime, to prevent dangerous consolidation of the new regime”.
Addressing Mr Al Shara, he said: “When you wake up in the morning in your palace in Damascus, look up at Mount Hermon and see the Israeli military – you know we are here to protect our communities and our border.”
