\n Rubble and Hebrew graffiti mark Israel's presence in Syria's Quneitra province, where people accuse the southern neighbour's troops of demolitions, detentions and forced displacement -- defying ongoing security talks between the two sides.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Israeli forces entered under cover of darkness and demolished my house, along with 15 others, with a bulldozer,\" said Mohammed al-Ali.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"They turned them into rubble within a few hours,\" said the 50-year-old from the southern town of Hamidiya.\n<\/p>\n
\n Syria and Israel have technically been at war since 1948, but the state of play between the two countries has shifted dramatically since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.\n<\/p>\n
\n Israel has deployed troops in a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights, launched hundreds of air strikes on targets in Syria and carried out incursions deeper into the south.\n<\/p>\n
\n These operations -- denounced as illegal by Syria's government and human rights groups -- have continued even as both sides claim progress in direct talks toward a security agreement.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ali, who works in Quneitra's agriculture directorate, can no longer access his destroyed home, located next to a new Israeli military outpost.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"This land belongs to Syrians; there can be no peace until it is returned to us,\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Hebrew graffiti -\n<\/p>\n
\n Hebrew graffiti can be seen on the walls inside Quneitra's provincial courthouse, which Israeli forces occupied for weeks.\n<\/p>\n
\n Some listed the soldiers' schedules, while one inscription read: \"My dear, I miss you\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Destroyed homes -- including Ali's -- are visible from the windows of the building.\n<\/p>\n
\n Last week, Human Rights Watch accused Israeli forces of forcibly displacing residents of southern Syria in their operation, calling it a \"war crime\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The New York-based watchdog also said Israeli troops had \"arbitrarily detained residents and transferred them to Israel\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The Israeli military operates in a region patrolled by peacekeepers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, which is tasked with monitoring the armistice.\n<\/p>\n
\n Israel says it carries out strikes in Syria to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities it considers jihadists or arch-foe Iran and its proxies.\n<\/p>\n
\n Last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was engaged in talks to establish a demilitarised zone in Syria's south.\n<\/p>\n
\n In the town of Khan Arnabah, 38-year-old Raafat al-Khatib is on his motorcycle with his wife and son.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We were terrified when we first saw Israeli soldiers... as they were stopping young men and checking their identification documents,\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'An enemy' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Ayman Zaytun, who runs a confectionery shop in the town, said sales have dropped significantly.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The daily Israeli incursions are making people nervous... we just want to live in peace and safety,\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We demand that the government, which went to the United States to negotiate a security agreement, ensure the safety of the people,\" he added, emphasising however that Israel \"will remain an enemy until they leave our land\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is in New York to speak at the United Nations General Assembly this week.\n<\/p>\n
\n Syria and Israel are expected to finalise security and military agreements by the end of the year.\n<\/p>\n
\n A Syrian military official said last week that government forces had pulled heavy weapons out of the area.\n<\/p>\n
\n On the road linking Damascus to Quneitra, AFP journalists saw dozens of military positions abandoned or reduced to rubble by air strikes.\n<\/p>\n
\n They also saw destroyed tanks, damaged military vehicles and burned-out trucks.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Only the internal security forces are present in Quneitra,\" said a Syrian security source who spoke on condition of anonymity.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The army has withdrawn all its heavy weapons, and there is no representative of the defence ministry here.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Syrian forces have refrained from retaliating against Israeli attacks since December.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"After 14 years of war and destruction, people are prioritising security and stability above all else,\" said Mohammad al-Said, an official in Quneitra's provincial government.\n<\/p>\n
\n Israel has occupied Syria's Golan Heights, part of Quneitra governorate, since 1967, annexing it in 1981 in a move not recognised by the international community.\n<\/p>\n
\n Quneitra city, occupied by Israel from 1967 to 1974, has been in ruins since then.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Peace means ending the state of war, not normalisation,\" added Said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rubble and Hebrew graffiti mark Israel's presence in Syria's Quneitra province, where people accuse the southern neighbour's troops of demolitions, detentions and forced displacement -- defying ongoing security talks between the two sides. \"Israeli forces entered under cover of darkness and demolished my house, along with 15 others, with a bulldozer,\" said Mohammed al-Ali. \"They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-150131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n