Syria Condemns Israeli Attacks as Residents Flee Homes Near Golan Heights

The Syria, government has condemned overnight Israeli attacks in southern Syria, as residents near the occupied Golan Heights were forced to flee their homes.

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday firmly condemned “the Israeli aggressions”, calling them “a flagrant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

The latest attack took place on Sunday in Abdin, a village in western Deraa province, where residents attempted to block the advance of an Israeli army unit.

Israeli forces then fired shells close to civilian homes, with families fleeing to neighbouring villages during the night.

“Shells [then] fell near the houses,” Mahmoud Mouaffak, a village notable, told AFP.

Israeli forces withdrew, allowing “a return to calm and the return of residents on Monday morning”, he added.

An AFP photographer saw one resident inspecting an unexploded shell close to his home.

Growing Israeli attacks

Israel has intensified its attacks and incursions into southern Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in late 2024.

It has moved troops into the United Nations-monitored buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967, and deeper inside Syrian territory.

Israel has intensified military operations in Deraa and Quneitra in recent weeks. The Syrian Sijil Center, which monitors Israeli activity in Syria, recorded nearly 300 operations or violations by Israel in Deraa and Quneitra in June, including 107 incursions and raids.

Israel said on Sunday that it had killed “several armed terrorists” a day earlier, without giving a number, specifying the location or any evidence.

Israel routinely describes Syrians resisting its occupation as “terrorists”.

Meanwhile, Israeli leaders have openly boasted of their plans to maintain and expand their military occupation beyond the Golan Heights.

On Thursday last week, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel intended to keep its troops in the sector it occupies in Syria “for an indefinite period”, as it has done in Lebanon and Gaza.

Israel captured most of the Golan Heights during the 1967 war with several Arab states, before illegally annexing the territory in 1981. The move was rejected by most of the international community.

The Israeli assaults in southern Syria are viewed as creating instability in the country, which is still recovering from 13 years of war. Turkiye, which is considered close to the current Syrian government, condemned Israel’s latest attacks on Monday.

“We strongly condemn the Israeli attacks on Quneitra and Deraa, which violate the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of Syria. These attacks, which trample on the lives and property of the Syrian people and make life for civilians in the region increasingly difficult, constitute a flagrant violation of international law,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

“We reiterate our call to the international community to fulfil its obligations and put an end to these attacks,” it added.