Israeli Forces Intensify Incursions in Quneitra, Establish Patrol Checkpoint Near Saida al-Jolan

Israeli forces intensified incursions and strikes in southern Syria, with reporting focused on the Quneitra Governorate and the Mount Hermon area.

Al-Jazeera Net reported that an Israeli occupation force penetrated the village of Saida al-Jolan in the Quneitra countryside, and that a correspondent for 'Syria Now' observed the establishment of an Israeli patrol checkpoint around the village alongside UNDOF vehicles passing through the same area.

Al-Jazeera Net

The same report said the move came three days after SANA reported that an Israeli force consisting of three military vehicles penetrated into 'Saida al-Jolan' and then headed to the Al-Hanout area, where they stopped two individuals and conducted an investigation with them.

Al-Jazeera Net also described that the border region with Syria is seeing expanding Israeli military movements inside the demilitarized zone, as Tel Aviv considers the 1974 disengagement agreement no longer in effect since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.

Al-Jazeera Net tied the renewed border activity to movements by settler groups, including the Ro'ad Bashan movement, which announced organizing activities aimed at establishing a presence inside Syrian territory.

The movement said in a statement on the X platform that several of its activists climbed Mount Hermon and spent a full night in the Bashan area, and it said it had informed the Israeli army of its movements while confirming its aim to impose a 'permanent civilian presence' in those areas.

Al-Jazeera Net

The report added that the Israeli army said it thwarted an attempt by a group of Israelis who arrived last night at the Mount Hermon area with the aim of crossing the border into Syrian territory, and that a military force 'working at the point' prevented the group from crossing and detained its members.

In the same account, UNDOF vehicles were described as passing through the area where the Israeli patrol checkpoint was established around Saida al-Jolan.

The West Asian reporting framed the current incursions as part of a longer pattern of Israeli expansionist discourse toward Syria, citing statements attributed to David Ben-Gurion and current Israeli officials.

نون بوست said Israel’s founding vision was reflected in a quote attributed to David Ben-Gurion: “The borders of Israel extend to where the last Israeli soldier's boot reaches.”

The same source linked that framing to a statement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a radio interview, saying: “This war must end with changing Israel’s borders—in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Judea and Samaria.”

نون بوست also described that Israel’s seizure of the strategic Mount Hermon area and large parts of the countryside of the Quneitra Governorate in southern Syria occurred after violating the 1974 disengagement agreement, while negotiations with the Syrian government on a new agreement stall.