Overview
- An Israeli operation in western Deraa near the occupied Golan Heights forced families from Abdin to flee after shells fell close to homes and residents returned when forces withdrew.
- Witnesses and an AFP photographer reported unexploded ordnance near houses and villagers saying they tried to block an Israeli advance before troops fired then pulled back.
- Israeli officials said they had killed “several armed terrorists” in recent strikes but provided no numbers or independent evidence, and Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel intends to keep troops in the sector indefinitely.
- The Syrian Sijil Center recorded a sharp rise in activity in June, logging nearly 300 operations or violations in Deraa and Quneitra, including more than 100 incursions and raids.
- The strikes have drawn formal condemnations from the Syrian foreign ministry and Turkey, revived concerns about breaches of the UN-monitored buffer zone, and risk further displacement and regional diplomatic escalation.