Israel bombards villages and towns in southern Syria with artillery and tanks

Israeli artillery shelling on the outskirts of the village of Abdeen and Wadi al-Raqqad in the Yarmouk Basin area in the western countryside of Daraa was renewed late on Wednesday night and early Thursday (July 2nd), as part of a wave of escalation on the ground that has been ongoing since the beginning of this week.

These latest strikes came as an extension of a series of attacks that began on the evening of Sunday, June 28, when Israeli artillery targeted the village of Abdeen with 5 heavy shells, accompanied by helicopter fire after an Israeli ground patrol penetrated into the village, before the residents confronted it with stones and blocked the roads to force it to withdraw towards the "Tal al-Maghr" site.

In the second wave of escalation, at dawn on Thursday, 3 new artillery shells landed deep in Wadi al-Raqqad, according to local sources, in conjunction with the firing of a tank shell on the neighboring town of Jamala and the shelling of agricultural fields between the towns of Brega and Koudna in the southern countryside of Quneitra, amid intensive flights by Israeli reconnaissance planes.

The sources told Syria News that the Israeli shelling  at dawn today was launched from  the occupation artillery in its position in Tal Ahmar al-Gharbi - Tal Abu Qubais in the southern countryside of Quneitra, while  the government SANA news agency said that the occupation forces targeted with artillery Wadi al-Raqqa and agricultural areas in the village of Abdeen, the towns of Brega and Kodna in the southern countryside of Quneitra, in addition to the agricultural plains surrounding the village of Jamla in the western countryside of Daraa.

Temporary displacement of dozens of families

This series of targeting led to the temporary displacement of dozens of families from the village of Abdeen towards the neighboring villages, to escape the fragments of shells and fear of renewed shelling in the coming hours.

On the evening of Monday, June 29,  the occupation forces infiltrated into the western countryside of Daraa governorate and fired at civilian homes.

  On  the evening of Sunday, June 28, Abdeen, located in the Yarmouk Basin in southern Syria, witnessed a  state of violent escalation by the Israeli occupation forces, during which artillery shelling and targeting with machine guns from helicopters, which prompted the residents to be forced to flee in the middle of the night towards the surrounding villages.

Israeli restrictions at the dawn of clashes

The roots of tension in the western countryside of Daraa go back about 10 days, specifically in the villages of Abdeen, Ma'ariyya and Jamla, following repeated military incursions and raids and search campaigns carried out by the occupation forces, which strengthened the state of tension among the residents.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Register Center, which documents  Israeli attacks in southern Syria, counted about 9 violations by the occupation forces in the western countryside of Daraa, including military incursions, setting up tents, setting up checkpoints, raids and searches, in addition to raising Israeli flags and targeting media crews, as part of an unprecedented escalation campaign in the area.

At midnight on Sunday, June 28, the Israeli occupation set up military tents on "Al-Maghr Hill", located west of the village of Abdeen in the Yarmouk Basin, and settled for about 20 hours before leaving the site, leaving behind the remains of military equipment.

In a later development on Sunday evening, gunmen fired at an Israeli force that was withdrawing from the vicinity of the village, which led to a violent response from the occupation that included shelling with artillery shells and mortars, and then the departure of helicopters that targeted residential neighborhoods with heavy machine guns, causing a large wave of displacement from the village towards neighboring towns and villages.

Widespread condemnation

Syria condemned in "the strongest terms the Israeli aggressions represented in the incursions into Syrian territory in the governorates of Quneitra and Daraa, the targeting of the area with artillery shells, and the resulting terror of civilians in a flagrant violation of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a new violation of international law, the UN Charter and the 1974 Disengagement Agreement."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs  said in a statement that the continuation of these aggressive practices undermines efforts aimed at consolidating security and stability, increases the suffering of civilians in the targeted areas, and threatens further escalation and tension in the region.

In parallel, Arab and regional condemnations, especially from Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan, of the Israeli military incursion into the governorates of Quneitra and Daraa in southern Syria, and the accompanying artillery shelling that targeted various areas, were condemned.

In the same context, the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi, expressed his strong condemnation and denunciation of these incursions, describing them as "a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic, international law and the Charter of the United Nations."