DAMASCUS, (The Palestine Foundation Pakistan)Syrian media outlets have reported that Israeli occupation forces have planted anti-personnel landmines around a military post they recently established inside the Jubata al-Khashab nature reserve, located in the northern countryside of Quneitra province. This action poses a direct threat to the lives of civilians.
Local news networks, including “Quneitra Plus,” stated on Monday that Israeli forces placed these mines near the newly established military point, in a move widely seen as a blatant violation of international laws governing the use of landmines in protected areas.
For months, the Israeli military has been bulldozing and uprooting ancient oak trees within the protected reserve, reportedly transporting some of them into occupied Palestinian territory. Local activists have condemned this as a grave environmental violation and a form of theft of the region’s valuable trees.
Activists have also documented Israeli military bulldozers digging and fortifying areas around the military site near Jubata al-Khashab forest.
Media platforms noted that the Israeli army has been reinforcing nine military positions it established inside Syrian territory following the collapse of the previous regime. These sites stretch from Mount Hermon in the north to the Jordanian border in the south. The reinforcements include raising earth mounds and building additional fortifications.
Reports suggest these measures indicate Israel’s intent to maintain a long-term presence at these posts, despite Syrian demands during recent negotiations for their dismantling.
Separately, the local news outlet “Daraa 24” reported that Israeli forces released a young man, Ezzedine al-Munif, just hours after detaining him at a checkpoint in the village of Bariqa in central Quneitra on Sunday.
Quneitra also witnessed a series of Israeli incursions on Sunday. These included military activities in the villages of Al-Razaniyah and Saida Al-Hanout, where Israeli soldiers set up a temporary checkpoint and stopped a local bread distributor serving nearby villages. He was later released, and the forces withdrew from the area.
Additionally, three Israeli tanks and several armored vehicles reportedly moved in near the old Saqri checkpoint at the entrance of the “Peace Road,” where they established a military checkpoint.
