ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Israeli forces advanced into southern Syria’s Quneitra on Monday, detaining two shepherds, according to Syrian state media.
Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that an Israeli army convoy, consisting of three military vehicles, set up a temporary checkpoint in the village of Saida in the southwestern province of Quneitra. The force "detained two shepherds and conducted a field interrogation with them."
The Israeli army has carried out similar operations in the area numerous times. Tel Aviv does not often comment on such activities.
The area is in the occupied Golan Heights, making it strategically significant. Images published earlier this year by Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency showed an Israeli flag raised at a newly built military position in the Tal al-Ahmar area.
Damascus has repeatedly condemned Israeli military activity inside Syrian territory, calling it a violation of sovereignty and of the 1974 disengagement agreement that established a UN-monitored buffer zone after the Arab-Israeli war.
The frontier has become increasingly tense since regional fighting involving Israel, Iran, and allied groups spilled across several neighboring countries.
