Israeli forces detained three people during an incursion into the northern Quneitra countryside on Saturday, according to Syria's state news agency SANA, as Damascus renewed calls for international action to halt Israeli operations on its territory.
Source: SANA via Storysh, Oct 25
A force comprising several military vehicles advanced to the Al-Kassarat intersection near Jbata Al-Khashab, where troops established a checkpoint and searched passersby, SANA reported, citing its correspondent in Quneitra.
Source: SANA via Storysh, Oct 25
Two simultaneous incursions reported on Saturday
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported two simultaneous incursions in Quneitra on October 24 amid heavy Israeli drone flights over the province: one patrol of several military vehicles advanced into Um Batna town in the middle countryside, while another patrol of three vehicles advanced into the northern countryside and established a checkpoint on the road between Ain Al-Bayda and Jbata Al-Khashab, inspecting passersby.
Source: Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Oct 24
Field reports carried by Syria Focus located Saturday's three detentions west of the village of Turanjah in the northern Quneitra countryside and said the three were released shortly thereafter. That location differs from SANA's account, which tied the operation to the Al-Kassarat checkpoint near Jbata Al-Khashab, so the two accounts are reported separately here.
Source: Syria Focus, Oct 25
A further checkpoint on Sunday
On Sunday, an Israeli military force of several vehicles again entered the area along the road connecting Jabata al-Khashab to Ein al-Bayda in the northern Quneitra countryside and set up a temporary checkpoint, inspecting passersby and verifying identity documents before withdrawing, Syria Focus reported. It said a similar movement had taken place in the same vicinity on Saturday near the al-Kassarat junction.
Source: Syria Focus, Oct 25
Syria Focus also reported that on Friday, Israeli forces detained a shepherd near the town of Hader in northern Quneitra, and that artillery shelling had affected the outskirts of Al-Hamidiyeh and the woods of Bir Ajam, with no human casualties reported from those strikes.
Source: Syria Focus, Oct 25
Damascus position
The Syrian government continues to reject the incursions and has demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces from its territory, saying measures taken by Israel in southern Syria are legally void under international law, and calling on the international community to press Israel to withdraw and stop attacks on civilians and local infrastructure, Syria Focus reported. Field reporting describes the repeated incursions, home raids, land levelling and shelling as breaches of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement. No Israeli military comment on the weekend incursions was included in the reports used here.