The occupation artillery shelled the agricultural lands of Tarnjain the countryside of Quneitra
Security Council Insists on UNDOF's Presence Despite Disengagement Agreement Collapse
On Tuesday, May 19, the Israeli occupation army's artillery targeted the vicinity of agricultural lands in the village of Taranja in the northern countryside of Quneitra, in a new violation in the series of violations witnessed in the border area in southern Syria in recent days.
According to the Quneitra Information Directorate, three artillery shells landed in the vicinity of the village, with no immediate reports of casualties. As of 11:00 Damascus time, the Syrian authorities had not issued any official comment on the results of the shelling or the extent of the damage.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry rarely commented on the current events in the south, and its last statement in this regard was issued on April 3 in response to the death of a 17-year-old man as a result of a direct targeting of his car by an Israeli tank shell in the town of Rasm al-Za'arura, adjacent to the strip adjacent to the disengagement zone.
In its statement, the ministry condemned the targeting, calling it a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law" and reflecting the continuation of "aggressive policies" that affect civilians and endanger their lives.
The ministry called on the international community to shoulder its legal and humanitarian responsibilities and take immediate measures to stop the repeated attacks on Syrian territory.
Limited incursion before bombing
Today's artillery shelling came hours after an Israeli patrol consisting of two military vehicles entered the road connecting the village of Ovania and the town of Khan Arnabeh in the countryside of Quneitra, according to local sources.
The sources told "Syrian News" that the Israeli patrol set up a temporary checkpoint for no more than two hours near the village of Ovania and searched passing cars before withdrawing without registering any arrests of citizens.
Yesterday morning, an Israeli occupation patrol infiltrated and launched a raid and search campaign on some houses in the village of Al-Asha in the countryside of Quneitra, during its incursion into the area.
UNDOF follows up on the situation on the ground in the south
The Quneitra Information Directorate published a video documenting the Israeli violation in the village southwest of Tal al-Faras and north of Tal al-Ahmar, which Israel turned into one of nine military bases it established in southern Syria after December 2024.
Local sources in the Al-Khashniyah district, to which the village of Al-Asha belongs, told "Syrian News" that a patrol of the ENDOF forces arrived in the village minutes after a patrol belonging to the occupation entered, following urgent appeals and calls from the residents.
According to the sources, the Israeli patrol later withdrew without recording any arrests, while UNDOF only followed up on the situation on the ground within the scope of its tasks on the separation line.
The ANDOF Force. Authorization until mid-2026
The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has been performing its role in the Golan Heights for more than five decades, after it was established by Security Council Resolution 350 issued on May 31, 1974 following the October War, as this international force came as a permanent mechanism to monitor the ceasefire and supervise the implementation of the disengagement agreement between Syria and Israel, in one of the most sensitive areas on the map of the Middle East.
UNDOF monitors the ceasefire line and oversees the buffer zone to ensure that it is free of any military presence in violation of the agreement before Israel announced, on December 8, 2024, the end of the disengagement agreement and controls the buffer zone that UNDOF supervised and begins to establish field fortifications inside Syrian territory, including the digging of trenches and the establishment of Earthen berms and the installation of advanced military checkpoints in a move that Tel Aviv described as "preventive security measures" to ensure that no armed groups approach the separation line.
UNDOF faces recurring security challenges as a result of regional military developments, and Israeli incursions or bombardments on the region from time to time, yet the UN Security Council continues to renew its mandate periodically, as its current mandate extends until mid-2026, within the framework of an international consensus on the need for its continued presence to ensure stability and prevent any uncalculated escalation.