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New incursion in Daraa
Israeli occupation forces carried out a new incursion Tuesday into the outer edges of Wadi al-Raqqad in the western countryside of Daraa Governorate, advancing from the Tel Abu al-Ghaythar area, according to state media.
The Syrian state-run agency SANA reported that two Israeli tanks and a military vehicle entered the area and opened fire toward the valley’s outskirts, with no casualties or damage immediately recorded.
The incident followed a separate flare-up late Monday when Israeli forces stationed at the Al-Jazeera barracks fired heavy bursts of gunfire toward the village of Maariya in the Yarmouk Basin, according to SANA.
SANA also said that after entering via the Wadi al-Raqadd road, an Israeli unit comprising two tanks and two military vehicles moved into the outskirts of the village of Jamla and later took up positions near the Majham post in the Yarmouk Basin, heightening tension among local residents.
Earlier Monday, an Israeli armored force pushed toward Maariya, positioned itself along the road linking the village to the barracks, opened the route toward the village of Al-Arida, and conducted searches of several civilian homes, as described by The Syrian Observer.
UN chief and local reports
The Arab News tied the Tuesday activity to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ visit to Syria, noting that in Damascus on July 25 he said, “We consider that the present situation is intolerable and that that situation needs to stop,” and added that “what is Syrian is Syrian and cannot be taken away.”
In the same report, the UN chief wrote on X the following day that “Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity must be fully respected,” and that “Violations by Israel of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement are unacceptable and must stop.”
Alikhbariah TV, as cited by Anadolu Ajansı, said Israeli forces detained a Syrian man after searching a house in the village of Taranja in northern Quneitra countryside, while also reporting a separate incursion into Al-Ardah in the western countryside of Daraa amid heavy gunfire.
Anadolu Ajansı reported that there were no casualties and no immediate comment from the Israeli army, while also stating that Guterres said the UN would submit a detailed report to the Security Council later this month on Israeli violations in Syria.
The Syrian Observer also said Israel continues to violate the 1974 Disengagement Agreement through repeated military incursions across southern Syria, alongside raids on civilian residences, arbitrary arrests, land bulldozing, and artillery shelling, according to Syrian officials.
What comes next
Syrian accounts framed the incursions as part of a broader pattern of field operations in southern Syria, with jريدة القدس describing raids between Abidin and Maariya in the Yarmouk Basin and intense gunfire aimed at intimidating local residents and preventing them from leaving their homes.
“Israeli occupation forces penetrated today, Tuesday, the outskirts of Wadi al-Raqad in the Yarmouk Basin area in the western countryside of Daraa, and opened fire toward agricultural lands and the Wadi al-Raqad road”
The same source said young men tried to obstruct the advance of military vehicles by blocking main roads with stones and simple earth barriers, while also noting that leaflets were dropped warning residents against blocking roads or obstructing military patrols.
jريدة القدس added that Israeli forces opened roads previously closed by residents and threatened to take strict measures against anyone participating in field obstruction operations, and it described an arrest campaign targeting dozens of Syrians since the end of last year, with estimates indicating about 50 people held in Israeli prisons since December 2024.
In parallel, Al-Jazeera Net reported that Israeli forces penetrated the outskirts of Wadi al-Raqad in the Yarmouk Basin area and opened fire toward agricultural lands and the Wadi al-Raqad road, while also describing roads opened toward al-Aradah after residents closed them with stones.
Al-Jazeera Net further said Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa told Al Jazeera’s Al-Muqabala that reaching a security agreement would enable moving to a second phase of talks about a comprehensive peace, “but without relinquishing Syria's right to the occupied Golan.”
