Introduction:

On December 8, 2024 after the fall of the Assad government, Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the Israeli government, announced the collapse of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Israel and Syria, and stated that he had ordered his forces to seize the buffer zone separating the two. Reuters reported that Israeli forces had deployed in the buffer zone separating Syria from the occupied Golan Heights, and had sent forces beyond the buffer zone. Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces had taken control of the summit of Mount Hermon and several surrounding villages within the demilitarized zone up to 18 kilometers deep within Syrian territory.

On December 15, 2024, the Israeli government unanimously approved a plan to promote Israeli settlement in the occupied Golan worth more than $11.13 million.

Map of the Golan disengagement zones taken by the Syrian Archive on February 27, 2025, source: Council on Foreign Relations

Syria and Israel reached the 1974 Disengagement Agreement after the latter's incursion into Syrian territory following the 1973 war. Israel withdrew from areas it had occupied, in addition to limited areas it had occupied from Syria in 1967 including the city of Quneitra, and established a buffer zone, or area of separation, in which Syria would assume civil administration while the Syrian army would remain outside. The area of separation extends 75 kilometers from north to south and ranges from 200 meters to 10 kilometers in width. The Agreement also includes a wider area that extends equally on both sides of the border, in which the size of the military presence will be limited for both sides according to certain understandings. The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) is responsible for monitoring in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 350, and consists of about 1,200 personnel from 13 countries.

A report by the Harmoon Center for Contemporary Studies explains that the strategic goal of the Israeli military campaign, which it described as “large-scale,” is to “secure Israel's northern borders and prevent hostile groups from exploiting the vacuum created by the collapse of the [Assad] regime.” The same report also noted that Israeli forces took control of 303 square kilometers of Syrian territory during the first week of the fall of the Assad government, and although they later withdrew from the Yarmouk Basin area, they expanded their control in the northern axes to 346 square kilometers.

Screenshot of a map of Israeli forces' incursion into Syrian territory as of December 24, 2024, taken by the Syrian Archive in February 2025, source: report by the Harmoon Center for Contemporary Studies.

Screenshot of a map of Israeli forces' incursion into Syrian territory as of January 9, 2025, taken by the Syrian Archive in February 2025, source: report by the Harmoon Center for Contemporary Studies

According to a US-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies report and a Kan news article, Israeli military units that reportedly took part in the ground incursions included paratroopers from the 101st Battalion of the 35th Brigade, troops from the 210th Division, the 74th Battalion of the 188th Armored Brigade, the 474th Golan Regional Brigade, and Egoz Special Forces units.

On January 31, 2025, Enab Baladi reported the locations of the points where Israeli forces were stationed inside the buffer zone as two bases in the Hadar region (one in Tallul al-Hamr northeast of the city and another in Qurs al-Nafl northwest of it), a base between the villages of al-Hamidiyah and al-Huriyah, a base at al-Mantara Dam, a base in Jabata al-Khashab in the northern Quneitra countryside, and a base established outside the buffer zone in Kudna, south of Quneitra.

Syrian archive data:

The Syrian Archive counted 81 alleged ground incursions by Israeli forces. The data show that some of the incursions were carried out for hours, while others lasted for days, in addition to areas where Israeli forces were continuously stationed as of January 31, 2025, and still stationed in some areas as of the date of publication. These incursions affected the governorates of Quneitra, Daraa, and Damascus countryside.

Date	Governorate	Number of incursions reported per day	Areas affected
12 October 2024	Quneitra	1	Kudna
14 October 2024	Quneitra	2	Kudna - Khan Arnabeh
15 October 2024	Quneitra	2	Al-Hamidiya - Al-'Asbah and Al-Rafid
21 November 2024	Quneitra	1	Al-Rafid
8 December 2024	Quneitra	9	Kudna - Ufania - Quneitra - Al-Samadania - Al-Qahtaniya - Baath City - Khan Arnabeh
8 December 2024	Damascus countryside	1	Al-Sheikh Mountain (Hermon)
9 December 2024	Quneitra	3	Ain Al-Alika - Ain al-Tinah - Haddar
10 December 2024	Quneitra	2	Al-Hamidiya - Baath City
11 December 2024	Quneitra	1	Haddar
12 December 2024	Quneitra	4	Um Batina - Jabata Al-Khashab - Al-Huriya - Al-Hamidiya
12 December 2024	Daraa	1	Maariya
13 December 2024	Quneitra	5	Al-Ajraf - Kudna - AL-Samadania - Khan Arnabeh - Um Batina
13 December 2024	Damascus countryside	2	Beit Jinn - Al-Sheikh Mountain (Hermon)
15 December 2024	Daraa	1	Koya
15 December 2024	Quneitra	1	Al-Muealaqa
17 December 2024	Daraa	1	Saida
18 December 2024	Daraa	4	Saida - Nafeah - Koya - Al-Wahda Dam
19 December 2024	Daraa	1	Maariya
20 December 2024	Quneitra	2	Jabata Al-Khashab - AL-Rafid
21 December 2024	Quneitra	2	Haddar - Al-Huriya - Al-Rafid - Al-Hamidiya - Jabata Al-Khashab - Rasem Al-Rawadi - Baath City - Saida - Al-Hanut - Rasem Al-Huor - Magdalia
22 December 2024	Quneitra	2	Baath City - Al-Hamidiya
23 December 2024	Damascus countryside	1	Sharet Al-Harmoon
24 December 2024	Quneitra	2	Mantra Dam - Jabata Al-Khashab
30 December 2024	Quneitra	1	Baath City
2 January 2025	Quneitra	1	Mantra Dam - Al-Qahtaniya - Western Samadania
5 January 2025	Quneitra	1	Kudna -Tal Ahmar
8 January 2025	Quneitra	6	Al-Hamidiya - AL-Rafid - Baath City - Al-Ashah - Abu Ghara - Al-Hayran - Tallul Alhammar
9 January 2025	Quneitra	1	Jabata Al-Khashab - Provincial building
10 January 2025	Quneitra	1	Provincial building
11 January 2025	Quneitra	1	Al-Muealaqa
13 January 2025	Quneitra	2	Tal Ahmar - Baath City - Al-Hamidiya
15 January 2025	Daraa	5	Ain Zakkar - Masreetiya - Saison - Alqaed - Jumleh - Wadi Alrakad
15 January 2025	Quneitra	3	Quneitra - Saida - Umm Al-Laqwaqs - Al-Muealaqa
17 January 2025	Quneitra	4	Jabata Al-Khashab - Taranga - Kudna - Rakhleh - Khan Arnabeh - Mantra Dam
20 January 2025	Quneitra	1	Baath City
22 January 2025	Quneitra	1	Saida Al-Hanout - Al-Rafid
29 January 2025	Daraa	1	Abdeen
31 January 2025	Quneitra	1	Quneitra

The data indicate that Israeli ground incursions began in October 2024 (before the fall of the Assad government) and targeted five villages in Quneitra governorate; and then once in the village of Rafid in November; then paused until December. On December 8, with the fall of the Assad government, Israeli attacks expanded to large areas of Syria, accompanied by ground incursions in the governorates of Quneitra (57 incidents, 34 in December 2024 and 23 in January 2025), Daraa (14 incidents, 8 in December 2024 and 6 in January 2025), and Damascus countryside (4 incidents in December 2024).

Chart of the number of Israeli ground incursions from October 1, 2024 to January 31, 2025, source: Syrian Archive data

Alleged Israeli violations against civilians:

Two persons were killed in these attacks: one in Khan Arnabeh on December 8, 2024 and one in Jabata Al-Khashab on December 11. The attacks also injured 11 civilians: a child in Maariya village in Daraa countryside on December 10, one person in Maariya on December 20, 2024, seven civilians across Al-Suwaysa and Al-Dawaya villages in Quneitra on December 25, 2024, and two persons in Quneitra on January 31, 2025.

According to data documented by the Syrian Archive, Israeli forces raided homes and military units belonging to the Assad government forces, confiscated and destroyed weapons inside them, uprooted trees, built dirt berms, blocked main roads, and displaced residents in the villages they raided. The Israeli forces also arrested 11 people: A young man in Daraa on December 25 and two others from Daraa countryside on December 26, 2024, two journalists, one Syrian and one French, on January 8 2025, and six people from the village of Saida Al-Hanout in Quneitra on January 22, 2025.

The Syrian Archive’s database contains 460 incidents that took place between October 7, 2023 and January 31, 2025, however the situation is still developing. Since the end of this investigation period, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded “the complete demilitarisation of southern Syria in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Suweida from the forces of the new regime,” while reinforcing Israel's indefinite military presence in Syrian territory seized after Assad’s fall. Additionally Israel’s Defence Minister has reaffirmed the country’s intention to occupy a swath of Syrian territory beyond Israel’s contested northern borders for an “unlimited amount of time” during a visit to the strategic Mount Hermon. This marks a shift from Israel’s previously temporary stance; Netanyahu’s refusal to allow Syria’s new leadership or HTS forces near the buffer zone, along with continued Israeli strikes on Syrian targets, signals an expansionist policy that challenges Syria’s sovereignty and risks further regional conflict.

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Israeli incursions and occupation of Syrian territory

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INVESTIGATIONS