Israeli forces have launched ground incursions into Syria’s Quneitra province [Getty]
Three people were killed on Wednesday after an Israeli drone bombed a convoy belonging to forces loyal to Syria’s new authorities in Quneitra province, prompting a call by Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa for UN forces to return to a buffer zone separating the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria.
The attack took place in the village of Ghadeer al-Bustan, near the buffer zone, and is believed to be the first direct Israeli attack on forces from Syria’s military operations administration.
The Syrian Shaam News Network said that the mayor of Ghadeer al-Bustan, Abdou Al-Kouma was among those killed in the strikes as well as two fighters from the convoy.
The Israeli military confirmed the strike but claimed that the strike was a “warning shot” after it identified vehicles with weapons on them near the buffer zone. It said that the convoy dispersed shortly afterwards.
Local sources told Shaam that the aim of the Israeli strike was to prevent the Syrian forces from entering the village to collect weapons after armed clashes broke out between two families in the village.
The fighting between the two families involved the use of mortars and machine guns, leading to several people being injured.
One of the families reportedly had links to the deposed Assad regime and notables from the village called on the military operations administration to intervene.
After the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rebels on 8 December last year, Israel invaded the demilitarised, UN-patrolled buffer zone near the Golan Heights, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.
It has forced Syrians in the area to leave their towns and villages and launched massive airstrikes on military facilities in the rest of Syria, with the aim of destroying the country’s strategic weapons.
On Thursday, during a landmark visit by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Abdul Rahman Al Thani to Damascus, Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa called on UN forces to return to the recently occupied buffer zone and that Syria would respect the 1974 disengagement agreement which created it.
“Israel’s advance in the region was due to the presence of Iranian militias and Hezbollah. After the liberation of Damascus, I believe that they have no presence at all. There are pretexts that Israel is using today to advance into the Syrian regions, into the buffer zone,” he told Reuters.
Israeli ministers and officials have reportedly discussed plans to divide Syria into autonomous cantons, under the pretext of protecting religious and ethnic minorities, as well as plans to extend Israel’s area of occupation and influence in Syria.
Israeli forces have continued to take over more land and villages in southern Quneitra province. The Shaam News Network reported that Israeli forces launched an incursion into the village of Muallaqa last Saturday.
Regional meetings
The reaction of Syria’s authorities to Israel’s attacks and incursions has largely been muted, focusing on building relations with other regional states and the removal of sanctions on the country.
The Qatari prime minister’s visit came after the Gulf country reopened its embassy in Syria last December, after a 13-year break in official ties which followed the Assad regime’s brutal suppression of protests in 2011.
On Wednesday, Syria’s new foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani visited Turkey, emphasising that his country wanted to build “friendly relations” with Ankara, and saying that the presence of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria was “no longer justified”.
Turkey has carried out several military operations against the Kurdish factions which make up the main component of the SDF in the past and recently dozens of people have died in fighting between the SDF and Turkish-backed militias in northern Syria.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi has said however that his group was willing to become part of a unified Syrian army.
