Syrian official says calls for calm in Quneitra ‘no longer useful’ amid escalating Israeli attacks

A Syrian official warned on Tuesday that appeals for calm in Quneitra province have become futile amid escalating Israeli attacks in the area.

Speaking to the state-run Al-Ikhbariya channel, Muhammad al-Saeed, director of the Quneitra Media Directorate, said a “state of extreme anger” prevails among residents as the Israeli army continues to impose “new realities on the ground”.

He stressed that calls for restraint “are no longer useful” following the latest escalation in Quneitra and the town of Beit Jinn, in the southern Damascus countryside.

Earlier on Tuesday, three Syrians were wounded by Israeli gunfire during an incursion by an Israeli military patrol into the town of Khan Arnabeh in rural Quneitra.

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The incident came days after an Israeli airstrike on Beit Jinn on 28 November killed 13 Syrians and wounded others, following a brief ground incursion and clashes with residents who attempted to defend their land.

Anger has been growing across southern provinces amid what residents describe as near-daily Israeli violations in recent weeks.

Despite the fact that the Syrian government poses no military threat to Israel, the Israeli army has carried out repeated incursions into Syrian territory, along with airstrikes that have killed civilians and targeted Syrian army positions, vehicles and ammunition depots.

Israel declared the 1974 Disengagement Agreement with Syria to have collapsed following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on 8 December 2014, while Damascus has repeatedly called for an end to Israeli violations.

Local residents say the continuation of these attacks is obstructing efforts to restore stability, attract investment and improve economic conditions in the south.

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