Israeli fortifications near Golan alarm Syrians

Israeli fortification works near the occupied Golan Heights have alarmed villagers in southern Syria, where local officials say Israeli forces have intensified construction in and around a UN-patrolled buffer zone.

Mohammad al-Saeed, an official in southern Syria's Quneitra province, said the Israeli army “recently intensified construction operations” in the buffer zone. He said Israeli forces were using bulldozers to dig trenches and berms and set up observation posts.

Saeed said the new Israeli line is being built “between 200 metres and one kilometre” beyond the ceasefire line established by a 1974 disengagement agreement. Syria condemned the works on Sunday as a “flagrant breach” of that agreement.

Israel captured most of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed the areas under its control, a move recognised only by the United States and Colombia.

Since the December 2024 ouster of Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria and sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan since 1974. Israel has also carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory and has said it will keep troops in a “security zone” in southern Syria.

In Jubbata al-Khashab, farmer Hassan Ahmad said Israeli forces had recently restarted digging a line along the Golan Heights, close to his fields. He said his son and nephew had previously been seized by Israel during repeated incursions.

Saeed said Israeli forces had seized 56 people in the area since Assad's fall and that 41 remained detained.

Witnesses said five vehicles and an Israeli army ambulance entered Jubbata al-Khashab on Wednesday and that Israeli forces shot a man in the leg after he tried to flee. Farmer Mohammad Samia said the man was taken away and later released with two others whom the Israeli army said it had seized Monday after they approached its troops.

In the nearby village of Jaba, Khadija Shehadeh mourned her son Mohammad Dabbour, whom Israeli forces killed this week. Israel's army said Monday that its troops had killed “a suspect attempting to infiltrate” a military post in the “security zone”. The Red Cross later handed Dabbour's body to his family.

The circumstances of Dabbour's death remain unclear. His mother said he had no ties to any political group, but also said he had left her a farewell message before disappearing Sunday.