Israeli forces infiltrate Maariyah and al-Basali in southern Syria
On Tuesday, July 14, an Israeli occupation force penetrated into the governorates of Daraa and Quneitra in southern Syria, where it opened a road that was previously closed by the residents, in conjunction with the storming of a number of citizens' homes in the area.
Local sources said that a force consisting of two armored vehicles and a bulldozer penetrated at dawn in the village of Maariyah in the western countryside of Daraa, and removed the stone berms placed by the residents to close the road leading to the Jazira barracks, without recording any searches or arrests during the incursion.
The sources explained that the residents blocked the road with stones earlier in an attempt to impede the advance of the forces from the western side, in light of the repeated tensions in the border area.
In Quneitra, this coincided with the entry of another Israeli force into the village of Al-Basali, where they carried out searches inside a number of houses before withdrawing from the area.
These moves come in the context of a continuous escalation in the southern regions of Syria, amid fears that the scope of military incursions will expand in the coming period, in light of the absence of any signs of an imminent truce.
Documentation of 239 violations of the occupation in southern Syria
During the past month, southern Syria witnessed a remarkable escalation in the pace of Israeli violations, after the relative decline recorded in May, where a total of 239 violations were documented, an increase of nearly 17% compared to the previous month.
The "Sijl" center, which specializes in monitoring and following up on Israeli violations, stated that raids topped the scene in southern Syria as the most frequent pattern, rising from 19 to 28 raids, the highest number since the beginning of 2025.
The center pointed out that the ground incursions of the Israeli occupation have increased from 64 to at least 87, in addition to the continued establishment of temporary checkpoints and intensive aerial flights, in addition to artillery shelling on civilian and agricultural areas in the countryside of Daraa and Quneitra.
The occupation conducts a population survey in the villages of Daraa and Quneitra countryside
The escalation reached its peak in the village of Abdeen in the western countryside of Daraa on 27 and 28 June, where the occupation forces carried out a large-scale operation that included ground incursions and the establishment of temporary positioning points, punctuated by limited clashes with local residents, followed by artillery shelling and shooting from a military helicopter, which led to the displacement of hundreds of civilians.
Local sources pointed out that the occupation forces went beyond the traditional security inspection procedures to collect population data and carry out a population survey and a field questionnaire, in a step that analysts interpreted as a dangerous development and escalation, in addition to targeting the educational process by detaining the buses of basic certificate students between Maariya and Abdeen.
Local reports documented the Israeli occupation forces bulldozing dozens of dunums in addition to installing an iron gate west of the town of Al-Rafid, about 300 meters inside Syrian territory, which led to the gnawing of nearly a thousand dunums of agricultural land.