Israeli forces raid southern Syria day after de-escalation meeting

Israeli army forces raided the Daraa countryside in southern Syria on Monday, a day after a meeting between Damascus and Tel Aviv aimed at reducing tensions. “Israeli occupation forces advanced with several military vehicles into the village of Maariya in the western Daraa countryside,” Syrian Alikhbariah TV reported. On Sunday, Israeli forces raided the town of Al-Rafid in Quneitra province and arrested a shepherd, according to the channel. Areas in southern Syria have witnessed near-daily Israeli incursions and attacks, particularly in Quneitra and Daraa provinces, including raids, searches, arrests and the establishment of military checkpoints. On Sunday, a Syrian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani held a meeting in Jordan with an Israeli delegation under US mediation, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported, citing a diplomatic source at the Foreign Ministry. Read: Pakistan condemns ‘unprovoked’ Israeli attack on Syrian airbase “The meeting came as part of efforts aimed at reducing escalation following the latest Israeli shelling of Syrian territory and rising tensions in southern Syria,” the source said. On August 18, Israeli aircraft carried out eight airstrikes on the runway of Abu al-Duhur Military Airbase in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, damaging its infrastructure. On July 26, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said his country was working, with the participation of other states, to reach a security agreement with Israel. Israel has occupied most of the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967. After the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime in late 2024, Israel declared the 1974 disengagement agreement had collapsed and occupied the Syrian “buffer zone” and other positions, including the Syrian side of Mount Hermon. Israeli army shells, blows up homes, sets fields ablaze in southern Lebanon The Israeli army continued its attacks on several border towns in southern Lebanon on Monday, including artillery shelling, home demolitions and the burning of agricultural fields despite the truce, Lebanese state media reported. Lebanon’s official National News Agency said Israeli artillery shelling targeted the town of Mansouri in the South Governorate, while Israeli forces carried out bulldozing operations in Houla in the Nabatieh Governorate. Also in Nabatieh, Israeli forces stationed in Khiam blew up homes in the western neighbourhood near the Al-Mabarrat schools, with successive explosions heard and heavy smoke rising in the area. Israeli forces also set fire to agricultural fields and properties inside the town, causing the fires to spread across several areas, the agency said. Read more: Iran will use all 'bilateral capabilities' to confront US economic sanctions: Baghaei The developments coincided with continued Israeli military movements in the area, amid heightened tension and caution among residents, it added. Israel continues its assault on Lebanon despite a US-sponsored framework agreement signed between Beirut and Tel Aviv on June 26, which provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Lebanese territory in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese army there and the disarmament of armed groups, in reference to Hezbollah. Since March 2, Israel’s assault on Lebanon has killed 4,348 people and injured 12,307 others, while displacing more than 1 million, according to Lebanese authorities. Israel occupies areas in southern Lebanon, some for decades and others since the previous war between 2023 and 2024, while during the current assault, it advanced more than 10 kilometres into Lebanese territory. Israel also occupies Palestinian and Syrian territories and continues to reject withdrawal and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as stipulated in relevant UN resolutions.