Syria reports fresh Israeli incursion, shelling in south

DAMASCUS: Syrian state media said Israeli forces carried out an incursion into the country's south on Sunday, a day after the visiting UN chief urged an end to Israeli violations and respect for Syria's sovereignty. State news agency SANA said that "Israeli occupation forces carried out an incursion early on Sunday into the villages of Maariya and Al Aarda in the Yarmuk basin in the west of Daraa province". It said the soldiers, accompanied by three military vehicles and a bulldozer, set up a checkpoint in Al Aarda, and that forces "dropped leaflets in towns in the Yarmuk basin warning residents against closing roads or obstructing the advance of the vehicles".

Also on Sunday, SANA said Israeli forces fired artillery shells at farmland near the Quneitra province village of Taranja, without reporting casualties.

Visiting UN chief Antonio Guterres on Saturday said that "violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity are unacceptable and must cease." "What is happening in the region around the Golan Heights is totally unacceptable," he said, emphasising that "the Golan Heights are Syrian territory."

During a meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa on Saturday, Guterres reaffirmed the UN's "commitment to Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, and expressed deep concern regarding violations by Israel" of the 1974 disengagement agreement, a UN statement said.

Guterres on Sunday urged the removal of all sanctions imposed on Syria during the era of ousted ruler Bashar al Assad, as he concluded a two-day visit to the country. "I welcome steps that have eased sanctions, and opening new possibilities for economic recovery, but all these sanctions must be removed immediately," Guterres told a press conference in Damascus.

"The United Nations stands with the people of Syria at this pivotal moment. And I came carrying the strongest possible appeal to the international community, an appeal to spare no effort to support the Syrian people and to support the Syrian government," Guterres said. "Syria today is at a crossroads," he added. "Syria needs investment in its people, its economy and its institutions. Syria needs support to restore essential services, rebuild infrastructure and revive livelihoods," he said. It also needs help "for the safe, voluntary and dignified return of refugees and internally displaced people", he added. — AFP