Israel Deepens Syria Incursion; UN Chief Condemns Violations
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- Israeli forces advanced toward villages in southwestern Syria on Sunday, setting up a checkpoint at Al-Aradhah, with shelling reported nearby and leaflets dropped warning residents against obstructing Israeli vehicles.
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres, on the first visit by a UN chief to Syria since 2009, condemned violations of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement and said the UN would submit a comprehensive report to the Security Council at the end of the month.
- Israel has conducted increasingly regular incursions into Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December 2024, seizing the UN-controlled buffer zone with the Golan Heights and establishing what it calls a "security zone."
- Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa told Al Jazeera's Al Muqabala that Damascus is working toward a security agreement with Israel involving a group of countries, adding Syria has "no interest" in confrontation and that a deal could "pave the way for comprehensive peace."
- Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani called Israel's continued military operations and occupation a "direct threat to the security of the region" and demanded withdrawal from the buffer zone.
- Guterres urged immediate removal of all sanctions on Syria, where the World Bank estimates post-war reconstruction will cost $216 billion, while Western countries including the United States have begun easing economic restrictions.
Why it matters: Israel's expanding military footprint in southern Syria collides directly with Damascus's stated goal of negotiating a security agreement — making the ground game and the diplomatic track openly contradictory. With reconstruction pegged at $216 billion and sanctions still only partially lifted, any escalation risks derailing the post-Assad recovery window Guterres explicitly framed as a "moment of opportunity."
