This happened a day after the United Nations (UN) chief, who is visiting the country, called for an end to Israeli violations and respect for Syria’s sovereignty.
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State news agency SANA reported that “Israeli occupation forces early Sunday invaded the villages of Maariya and Al Aarda in the Yarmouk basin, located in the western part of Daraa province.”
Soldiers, accompanied by three military vehicles and a bulldozer, reportedly set up a checkpoint in Al Aarda. The forces “distributed leaflets in the towns of the Yarmouk basin, warning residents not to close roads and not to obstruct the movement of vehicles.”
Following the overthrow of long-time leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israel sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that has separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights since 1974.
Since then, Israel has been carrying out strikes and continuous incursions deep into Syrian territory.
Israeli officials say they intend to maintain forces in a “security zone” in southern Syria, where they seek to create a broader demilitarized zone.
Also on Sunday, SANA reported that Israeli forces shelled farmland near the village of Taranya in Quneitra province with artillery shells, but no casualties were reported.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, visiting Damascus, said on Saturday that “violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are unacceptable and must stop.”
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“What is happening in the region around the Golan Heights is completely unacceptable,” he said, emphasizing that “the Golan Heights are Syrian territory.”
During a meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa on Saturday, Guterres reaffirmed the UN’s “commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity and expressed deep concern over Israel’s violations of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement,” according to a UN statement.
Israel captured most of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed the territories it controlled – a move recognized by only a small part of the international community.
Foreign Minister Asaadas al Shaibani said on Saturday that “continued Israeli military actions and the illegal occupation of our lands beyond the 1974 line pose a direct threat to regional security,” and demanded “an immediate and unconditional withdrawal.”
Last month in the Yarmouk basin area, state media and a local official reported that residents of Abidin village fled Israeli artillery fire after locals attempted to block a road to stop an Israeli patrol moving through the area.
Despite tensions between the neighboring states, Israel and the new Syrian government have held several rounds of direct talks and agreed to establish an intelligence-sharing mechanism.
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