LONDON: Israeli forces entered a valley near the village of Abidin in southern Syria on Sunday, preventing farmers from working their land, Syria’s state-run news agency SANA reported.
The force, traveling in three military vehicles, advanced into the Yarmouk Basin in western Daraa province before withdrawing toward Jamla and returning to occupied territory through the Tal Abu Al-Ghaithar gate, according to SANA’s reporter.
An Israeli soldier also damaged a farmer’s motorcycle during the incursion, the reporter said.
The operation followed an incursion on Saturday into Al-Mushayrifah village in Quneitra province and along the road to Durbul in the Damascus countryside, where Israeli forces searched pedestrians, vehicles and homes, Syrian media reported.
The incursions are part of a reported pattern of Israeli military operations in southern Syria, including raids, arrests and shelling.
Syria says such actions, along with the leveling of land, violate the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.
Damascus has repeatedly demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from Syrian territory, calling Israel’s actions illegal under international law and urging the international community to help secure its withdrawal.
The operations come amid growing concern over the impact of Israeli military activity on civilians in southern Syria.
On Oct. 9, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk expressed concern about the continuing toll on civilians. Open-source monitoring recorded about 280 incidents involving armed Israeli incursions in September, the highest monthly total since the start of the year.
Reported actions included raids on homes, movement restrictions, harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention and destruction of livelihoods.
OHCHR Spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said in a statement that the agency received reports on Wednesday that Israeli forces had shot and temporarily detained a farmer with a disability during an incursion into Jubbata Al-Khashab in northern Quneitra.
According to those reports, the farmer tried to leave the area because he was frightened by the soldiers’ presence. Israeli forces then shot him in the leg and detained him while he was bleeding.
He was released about 90 minutes later and taken by Syrian Civil Defense personnel to Al-Golan Hospital in Quneitra for treatment and surgery, OCHA said.
Damascus says Israeli incursions, including raids, arrests, shelling and the leveling of land, violate the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. It has repeatedly demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from Syrian territory, called Israel’s actions illegal under international law and urged the international community to help secure that withdrawal.
Meanwhile, Israel says its military presence in southern Syria is intended to prevent attacks on Israeli communities.