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Quneitra fire after shelling
Israeli artillery shelling ignited a fire on agricultural lands in the Quneitra countryside in southern Syria, with the official Syrian state television channel al-Ikhbariya reporting that the shelling hit farmland south of the village of Jbata al-Shabab (Jbata al-Khashab) and that flare bombs were also launched around the area.
“causing a fire to break out in the area”
The attack came hours after Israeli forces raided the town of Jbata al-Shabab in Quneitra and detained two people in the early hours of Wednesday, according to the same account.
In parallel, the same reporting said Israeli aircraft carried out eight airstrikes in the early hours of Tuesday targeting the runway of the Abu al-Dhuhur military airport in Idlib province, causing material damage to its infrastructure.
Syria said in two identical messages to the United Nations and the Security Council on Tuesday that ongoing Israeli attacks, including shelling, incursions, and arrests, hinder efforts to achieve stability and threaten the region with further tension.
The Anadolu Ajansı account similarly described an artillery shell striking farm fields south of the Jbata al-Shakhb village in the Quneitra countryside, coinciding with tracer rounds and causing a fire to break out.
Detentions, airstrikes, and escalation
Beyond the Quneitra fire, the reporting described a continuing escalation in which Israeli forces raided Jbata al-Shabab in Quneitra and detained two people, and then carried out eight airstrikes targeting the runway of the Abu al-Dhuhur military airport in Idlib province.
The same account said Israeli forces also targeted the Wadi Abdin area of the western countryside of Daraa Governorate with artillery shelling on Tuesday, adding to a pattern of strikes across multiple Syrian provinces.
Syria’s messages to the United Nations and the Security Council framed the campaign as obstructing stability, stating that continued Israeli attacks “hinder efforts toward stability and threaten the region with further escalation.”
In a separate report, Al-Jazirah Net said Israeli bombardment coincided with occupation forces releasing flare bombs near the demarcation line over Jabata al-Khashab, and that the fires spread across wide areas of Jabata al-Khashab’s lands.
Al-Jazirah Net also reported that on the same day Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi conducted a field tour in southern Syria and that a statement from the occupation army quoted Kochavi as saying: “We are operating on multiple fronts where the challenges change, and Syria is one of them,”.
Regional pressure and diplomatic stakes
The Syria-focused accounts were set against broader cross-border tensions described in reporting on southern Lebanon, where Israeli warplanes launched raids across southern Lebanon early Friday and artillery shelling accompanied explosions in multiple areas.
“Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday reiterated calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from Lebanon”
SANA said the raids targeted al-Mansouri and that Israeli forces carried out explosions in Hadatha and al-Tairi in the Bint Jbeil district, with powerful blasts heard across several southern villages and towns.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from Lebanon and halt attacks on its sovereignty, and stressed the need to extend Lebanese state authority over the entire country and place decisions on war and peace exclusively in the state’s hands.
In parallel, TRT World reported that Israel carried out a series of overnight air strikes on several areas in southern Lebanon while artillery shelling continued until early Thursday, with the state-run National News Agency (NNA) saying aircraft struck the Ali al-Taher heights and the vicinity of Al-Dabsha.
Against this backdrop, the reporting said hostilities between Israel and Lebanon have continued since Israel launched a large-scale offensive on Lebanon on March 2, while Israel and Lebanon have been engaged in US-led negotiations aimed at ending the conflict and reaching security arrangements along the border.