what are you syrians doing in israeli 'territory';

As it resumes military operations in the Gaza Strip, Israel has expanded its ground incursions across southern Syria in recent weeks, while also launching airstrikes throughout the country — from Latakia and Homs to rural Damascus. In a major attack on March 25, Israeli forces shelled Koya, a small village in the Yarmouk Valley in Deraa Governorate, leaving at least six dead.

“[Israeli troops] started shooting at the farmers as soon as they saw them,” Nadia Aboud, a 28-year-old journalist from the nearby city of Deraa, told +972, recounting testimonies from village residents. “The farmers, who keep weapons to protect their land, fired back.” The situation quickly spiraled into a larger clash, with the Israeli military launching at least one airstrike on the village. “Two of [the farmers] were killed on the spot. When others rushed to help, the fighting intensified.”

Though Aboud stressed that

“the people of Deraa want peace and for the [1974 Syrian-Israeli disengagement agreement] to be upheld,” she warned that resistance would persist. “If Koya is attacked again, they’ll defend it to the last man.”

The attack on Koya was among the deadliest since Israel invaded Syria some four months ago. On Dec. 8, just hours after the collapse of former Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, Israeli forces moved swiftly to seize abandoned mountaintop checkpoints, occupying territory in violation of the 1974 agreement.

Since then, Israeli warplanes have conducted near-daily flights and struck Assad’s former military sites — 600 attacks in the first eight days of military operations. Meanwhile, ground troops have advanced 12 miles into Syrian territory, building at least nine military bases and expanding road networks and other communications infrastructure.

The Israeli high command justifies its bombardments as necessary to prevent the weapons stockpiles from falling into the hands of Damascus’ new government, led by interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa. Yet al-Sharaa has shown no signs of seeking conflict with Israel, focusing his attention on rebuilding Syria and lobbying to lift international sanctions, while Iran’s influence in Syria has been systematically weakened by Assad’s departure. And on the ground, often in the vicinity of former military outposts, a scattering of villages remains — home to thousands of Syrians who bear the brunt of Israel’s new, violent military occupation.

Divide and Conquer

In Rasm al-Rawadi, a small village near Quneitra in the demilitarized Syrian-Israeli buffer zone, residents awoke on Dec. 8 to the sound of gunfire and aerial bombardment.........more........