Israeli forces carried out shelling and incursion operations on villages and towns in the Damascus countryside, Quneitra and Daraa governorates in southern Syria on Friday, and arrested a young man in western Daraa countryside, amid separate security incidents in areas of Deir ez-Zor, Darayya and the city of al-Sanamayn. Israeli forces shelled the outskirts of al-Hamidiyah in Quneitra countryside with artillery.
In Damascus countryside, artillery shelling hit Bat al-Warda hill near the town of Beit Jinn, several days after the strategically located Harboun hill west of the town was targeted with 7 Israeli artillery shells. In western Daraa countryside, an Israeli force made an incursion into the Wadi al-Raqad area near the town of Jamlah before arresting a young man from al-Muallaqa village in Quneitra countryside.
Local sources said the young man worked herding cattle and lived in Wadi al-Raqad, which lies in the Yarmouk Basin. The Yarmouk Basin has witnessed repeated Israeli incursions and military movements inside Syrian territory in recent months. The Syrian authorities say these operations, including raids on civilians' homes, arrests, land levelling and shelling, constitute a violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.
Damascus calls for Israeli forces to withdraw
Damascus is calling for Israeli forces to leave its territory, stressing that the measures taken by Israel are null and void and have no legal effect under international law. It is also calling on the international community to fulfil its responsibilities and work to compel Israel to make a complete withdrawal from southern Syria.
In a separate development, an explosion occurred on Friday in the Ayash area of western Deir ez-Zor countryside in the north-east of the country. The official Syrian News Channel said the relevant authorities were working to determine the nature of the explosion, while ambulances and civil defence teams headed to the site.
In the city of Darayya in Damascus countryside, one person was killed and another injured when war remnants exploded inside the Nursing School. Khaled al-Najm, director of the Operations Centre of the Emergency and Disaster Management Directorate in Damascus countryside, said Syrian civil defence teams transported the victim's body to a hospital to complete the procedures and hand it over to his family, while local residents provided first aid to the injured person.
Internal security announces dismantling of cell in al-Sanamayn
Al-Najm said the Nursing School building in Darayya had been completely destroyed and was out of service, noting that warning signs had been placed around it to prevent residents from approaching. In Daraa governorate, the Internal Security Forces announced that they had identified members of a cell they accused of responsibility for the killing of 3 of their personnel in the city of al-Sanamayn.
It said search and combing operations had resulted in the seizure of weapons, ammunition and explosives ready for detonation, along with equipment used to manufacture explosives, inside the homes of two people it said led the cell. Brigadier-General Hossam Mamoun al-Tahhan, commander of internal security in Daraa, said on Thursday that the cell was reached after careful monitoring and pursuit which showed, according to his account, that Mohsen al-Haymid and Ahmad al-Othman, nicknamed “al-Kashki”, led it.
He added that the weapons, ammunition, explosives and equipment had been seized during the search and combing operations. Al-Tahhan stressed that the security services would continue pursuing the remaining members of the cell until all those involved were arrested and referred to the competent courts.
Earlier on Thursday, 3 Internal Security Forces personnel were killed and others injured when an armed group, which the authorities described as operating outside the law, attacked their patrol while they were carrying out a mission to arrest a wanted person in the city of al-Sanamayn.
