SOUTH SYRIA VILLAGERS FEARFUL AS ISRAEL BUILDS GOLAN LINE

JUBBATA AL KHASHAB, Syria: From his field in southern Syria, Hassan Ahmad pointed at new Israeli fortification works as its military edged ever closer to his village, adjacent to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. 'Look at this berm around 300 metres away, just after the trees,' said Ahmad, 46, a farmer whose son and nephew were previously seized by Israel during its repeated incursions.
Since the December 2024 ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria and sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan since 1974.
Mohammad al Saeed, an official in southern Syria's Quneitra province, said the Israeli army 'recently intensified construction operations' in the buffer zone. The new Israeli line is being built 'between 200 metres and one kilometre' beyond the ceasefire line established by a 1974 disengagement agreement, Al Saeed added. On Sunday, Syria condemned the works as a 'flagrant breach' of the agreement.
Despite the tensions, Syria and Israel have held several rounds of direct talks as they edge towards a security agreement. — AFP