ISTANBUL / Leith Al-Junaidi / Anadolu

Israeli forces penetrated into Syria's southwestern Quneitra province on Thursday and set up a checkpoint to inspect passersby.

The Syrian News Channel reported that "Israeli occupation forces are penetrating the vicinity of the village of Saida al-Golan in the Quneitra countryside."

It added that the forces set up a temporary checkpoint to inspect passersby, coinciding with the passage of a patrol of the UN's UNDOF forces in the area.

No immediate comment was issued by the Syrian side on the incursion, which comes in the context of continued Israeli violations of Syria's sovereignty.

This comes two days after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa condemned the "ongoing Israeli violations that undermine the security of the entire region," and called on Israel to withdraw from the territories it occupied in southern Syria.

During a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, al-Sharaa said: "The basis of true stability requires an international commitment to compel Israel to return to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, and a complete withdrawal from the areas it occupied after December 8, 2024."

The southern Syrian regions have witnessed, for months, repeated Israeli incursions and assaults, including raids, inspections, and arrests, along with the establishment of military checkpoints.

These movements escalated following the ousting of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, and Israel's announcement of the collapse of the 1974 disengagement agreement and its seizure of the Syrian buffer zone.