World Courant
Quneitra, Syria – Ibrahim al-Dakheel, 55, watched in despair as an Israeli bulldozer destroyed his 40-year-old house, claiming it was essential to safe the borders.
“It was 6:30 within the morning once I heard the explosion,” he advised Al Jazeera, pointing to the place a Syrian navy publish as soon as stood close to his destroyed house.
He and his household dwell in al-Rafid, a village in Quneitra Governorate.
Al-Dakheel used to take a seat in his entrance yard and benefit from the lush inexperienced fields and a flowing spring close by. Nothing introduced him extra pleasure, he stated.
However now he and his household are taking refuge in his dad and mom’ house within the village as he continues to observe Israeli forces advance.
“I noticed them driving via the village – vans and tanks arrived on the city corridor together with bulldozers,” he stated.
On December 8, Israel launched a navy marketing campaign concentrating on places throughout Syria and superior towards Quneitra beneath the pretext of searching for weapons and cooperation with the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Iran.
Israeli forces arrange checkpoints, uprooted bushes and destroyed the village’s solely navy publish, which al-Dakheel stated was only a small station the place a number of officers lived.
Israeli forces have additionally fired stun grenades, tear gasoline and dwell bullets at protesters dissatisfied with their invasion of Syria.
The newest incident occurred on Wednesday when Israeli forces fired on a protest in opposition to the destruction of a number of buildings in two villages in Quneitra, wounding three folks.
Israel’s incursion comes after Syria’s longtime autocratic president, Bashar al-Assad, was overthrown by a lightning opposition offensive earlier in December.
Days later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Israel’s presence in Syria could be “short-term,” however later clarified that Israel would stay illegally on Syrian territory till a brand new safety association was reached with the brand new Syrian authority.
Ibrahim al-Dakheel beloved to take a seat in his entrance backyard and luxuriate in lush inexperienced gardens throughout. That is all gone now (Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera)
A brand new transfer
Maysoun al-Faouri, 47, didn’t count on to be pushed from her house when Israeli forces entered her village.
Throughout the thirteen-year civil conflict in Syria, which started as a well-liked rebellion in opposition to al-Assad that he brutally suppressed, al-Faouri, her six youngsters and her husband – who died two months in the past of unknown causes – had been pushed from the preventing . -The Hajar al-Aswad district, a suburb of Damascus.
They moved to Madinat al-Baath, an space in Quneitra the place Israeli forces at the moment are stationed only a kilometer away.
Al-Faouri doesn’t absolutely belief Israel’s claims that their presence is short-term and is anxious that Israeli troopers might be in her house inside seconds.
“I advised my youngsters, ‘If you wish to escape, you possibly can, however I do not care if I die.’ I do not even have the cash to go away. We’re all exhausted, poor and have misplaced every little thing,” al-Faouri, a nurse, advised Al Jazeera.
Maysoun al-Faouri determined to remain and take her possibilities in Quneitra (Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera)
“Even the troopers do not understand how lengthy they’ll keep right here,” she added.
Some folks, al-Faouri stated, might desire to remain in villages that Israel has invaded as a result of they don’t have the monetary means to go away.
A historical past of occupation and worry
Quneitra is positioned on the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory that Israel invaded and occupied throughout the 1967 conflict.
After Israel’s 1974 withdrawal from many of the occupied territory – whereas illegally retaining a part of the Golan Heights – and the declaration of a demilitarized zone beneath UN supervision, the world remained largely uncared for.
Kids clamber over the rubble left behind after Israel’s demolition in al-Rafid (Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera)
In the present day, many residents nonetheless face uncertainty, regardless of hopes that the nation will get better from the ravages of battle.
However Israel’s increasing and seemingly indefinite occupation of Syrian territory is already crushing some folks’s optimism, in keeping with 28-year-old lawyer Mohammad al-Fayyad.
“There may be worry and a scarcity of water, electrical energy and meals (within the villages of Quneitra). Faculties are closed, in contrast to in different provinces.
“Individuals who fled to Damascus after Israeli forces superior discovered no shelter and no assist,” al-Fayyad stated.
Those that have chosen to stay worry Israel’s aggression, particularly as they protest the continued assault on the nation.
Many Syrians, like al-Fayyad, worry that Israel will discover a new pretext to grab much more Syrian land within the title of “safety.”
“We celebrated the victory and the autumn of al-Assad, however then got here the occupation, which triggered worry and spoiled the enjoyment,” al-Fayyad stated ruefully.
“We’re in a brand new section… liberation. We should always have the ability to have fun it like the remainder of the nation.”
In Quneitra nobody can have fun the autumn of al-Assad throughout the Israeli invasion | Warfare information in Syria
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