Wall Street Journal: Israel advances outside buffer zone in southwestern Syria
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Israeli forces crossed the buffer zone in southwestern Syria and arrested a number of Syrian citizens, accusing them of involvement in “terrorist” activities.
The WSJ quoted residents of the village of al Hamidiyah, located in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, as saying, “Israel has established a buffer zone over our lands and prevented us from entering it”.
They added that Israeli forces have begun to advance beyond the buffer zone into Syrian territory.
The WSJ newspaper also cited statements made by an Israeli officer, who explained that the Israeli army had detained a number of Syrians on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities.
These Israeli moves come in the context of changes to the status of the buffer zone, exploiting what Israel considered the collapse of the Syrian regime after December 8, 2024.
This led to an Israeli incursion into the area previously subject to the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement, a move the United Nations described as a clear violation of the agreement.
In this context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that Tel Aviv will maintain its control over the buffer zone until a Syrian force capable of implementing the terms of the disengagement agreement is formed.
These military developments have sparked escalating tensions in southern Syria, particularly in the Dara’a and Quneitra governorates, where clashes erupted between local residents and Israeli forces.
Last Thursday morning, a massacre occurred, claiming the lives of nine civilians and wounding others, as a result of Israeli shelling targeting the al Jabiliyah Dam forest area between the city of Nawa and the town of Tasil in the western Dara’a countryside.
Local sources reported widespread public anger, coupled with a heightened state of alert in the region, particularly given that this is the first time Israeli forces have entered this deep into Syrian territory.
The Wall Street Journal newspaper had previously reported that clashes erupted between residents of Daraa province and Israeli forces near the al Jabiliyah Dam, coinciding with Israeli airstrikes targeting Homs and Hama airports, as well as the bombing of the Scientific Research Center in the capital, Damascus.
