Israeli tanks advance deep into Syria's Quneitra, expel gov't employees: Sky News Arabia

Ahram Online , Monday 30 Dec 2024

Local sources confirmed to Sky News Arabia that the Israeli army tanks advanced deep into the city of Quneitra in southern Syria and expelled government employees.

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File photo: A child looks on as Israeli soldiers patrol in the Syrian town of Jubata al-Khashab, in the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. AFP

 

The sources reported that Israeli tanks are surrounding government buildings in the area, demanding their evacuation.

Syrian media also indicated that Israeli forces had advanced into the town of Al-Baath in the Quneitra countryside.

Syrian television stated that "the Israeli occupation army entered Al-Baath, expelling employees from government offices under the pretext of conducting inspections."

Since the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, the Israeli army has occupied several sites along the border with Syria, intensifying its military presence in the region.

In mid-December, Israel's government approved a plan to increase the Israeli population in the occupied Golan Heights after seizing a UN-monitored buffer zone, including the summit of Syria's highest peak, Jabal Al-Shaikh.

Israel’s defence minister ordered troops to prepare to continue occupying the peak of Jabal Al-Shaikh through the upcoming winter months.

Israel portrayed the move, which drew international condemnation, as a temporary and defensive measure after what Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's office called a "vacuum on Israel's border and in the buffer zone" following Al-Assad's fall.

Many residents feel abandoned in southern Syria's towns and villages that Israel has occupied since the overthrow of Al-Assad.

Israel has occupied most of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau, since 1967 and then annexed the area in 1981, a move not recognized by the international community.

It has also launched hundreds of strikes on Syria, targeting all military sites and weapons and other civil infrastructures, including bridges, in the aftermath of Al-Assad's overthrow.

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