Israel holding 49 Syrians after 280 armed incursions in September, says UN

In September, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, reported that Israel had detained 49 Syrians and conducted 280 armed incursions into southern Syria. Detainees claimed they were subjected to torture and ill-treatment, including beatings, forced standing for long periods, and threats against their families.

Turk urged Israeli authorities to cease these actions. September saw the highest number of armed Israeli incursions since the start of the year, according to open-source monitoring. The incursions involved reports of home raids, movement restrictions, harassment and intimidation of civilians, arbitrary detention, and the destruction of livelihoods.

The UN office acknowledged that it could not independently verify the number of Syrians in Israeli custody, but stated that 49 individuals remained detained. The UN called on Israel to stop harassing or intimidating civilians in Syrian villages, including through raids, movement restrictions, detention, and crop destruction. This came as Syria accused Israel of constructing significant military fortifications in Syrian territory along the occupied Golan Heights.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry claimed that Israel was working to complete its "Sufa 53 Line," which violated past agreements. Recent years have seen an uptick in Israeli incursions near the Golan Heights. Israeli troops had crossed into southern Syria and areas west of Damascus soon after rebel forces led by President Ahmad Al Shara overthrew the Assad regime in December 2024.

The United States, which supports Syria's current rulers, has facilitated several meetings between Israeli and Syrian officials to discuss a peace deal. These talks focused on halting Israeli attacks on Syria and the return of Israeli forces to the 1974 armistice line near the Golan Heights.