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Ahmad al-Sharaa  ·  2026-07-21 00:00

Israeli forces carry out incursion in Quneitra, release detainee in Daraa

Daraa/Quneitra, July 21 (SANA)Israeli occupationforces carried out an incursion into the village of Kudna in the southernQuneitracountryside on Tuesday, conducting searches and interrogations before withdrawing, while simultaneously releasing a civilian who had been detained earlier in the Yarmouk Basin area of the western Daraa countryside, SANA correspondent reported.

The Israeli force entered Kudna and searched a civilian’s home, interrogating several residents before withdrawing without making any arrests, the correspondent said.

Civilian released after hours in detention

Separately, Israeli occupation forces released Ihsan Khalaf Hamad, approximately 38 years old, from the village of Maariyah in the westernDaraacountryside, hours after detaining him in the vicinity of the village of Jamla in the Yarmouk Basin area.

Muaffaq Mahmoud, head of the Maariyah and Abidin municipal council, told SANA that Hamad, a worker, was hunting birds in the area when Israeli forces detained him for questioning. He was released later the same day and returned to his family in good health.

Mahmoud said the circumstances of his detention remain unclear, noting that the incident caused concern among residents of border villages who frequently face such practices.

Tensions rise in border villages

Residents of the Yarmouk Basin villages live in a state of anticipation due to repeated Israeli incursions and accompanying interrogations and detentions, affecting their daily lives, particularly workers in agricultural lands, herders and those moving near the border strip, Mahmoud added.

The past period has seen an escalation in Israeli incursions into the Daraa and Quneitra countryside, accompanied by the arrest and detention of civilians for varying periods before some are released, along with house searches and interrogations in villages adjacent to the disengagement line, causing concern among residents.

Israel continues to violate the1974 Disengagement Agreementthrough repeated incursions into southern Syria, as well as raids, arrests, land bulldozing and shelling. According to local monitors, Israeli forces have carried out approximately 300 military operations or violations in Daraa and Quneitra provinces in recent months, including around 70 ground incursions and 28 raids. Israeli forces have established at least nine forward military positions in Quneitra, expanding control to approximately 235 square kilometers within and beyond the UN-monitored buffer zone.

Syria consistently demands the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from its territory and stresses that all Israeli measures in southern Syria are null and void under international law. Damascus has repeatedly called on the international community to assume its responsibilities and compel Israel to withdraw fully fromsouthern Syria.