Israeli army opens fire on water tanker, drives away shepherds in southwestern Syria

Israeli army forces opened fire on a water tanker and drove away shepherds during an incursion into southwestern Syria’s Quneitra province on Wednesday, Syrian media reported.

Syrian Alikhbaria TV said an Israeli military patrol advanced west of Saida al-Golan village in the southern Quneitra countryside, where troops expelled shepherds from the area and fired at a water tanker.

The patrol subsequently withdrew from the area, the broadcaster added.

No immediate reports of casualties were available, and the Israeli army had not commented on the incident.

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The latest incursion came amid repeated Israeli military operations in southern Syria, particularly in Quneitra and Daraa provinces, involving raids, searches, detentions and artillery attacks.

The UN Human Rights Office reported last week that it had recorded around 280 armed Israeli incursions into Syria in September, the highest monthly figure this year, with at least 49 Syrians remaining in Israeli custody.

Israel has occupied most of Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967. Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, Israeli forces expanded their presence into the demilitarized buffer zone and other positions in southern Syria.

Damascus has repeatedly demanded Israel’s withdrawal from Syrian territory and reaffirmed its commitment to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, which established a UN-monitored buffer zone between the two sides.

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