Tel aviv: Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir visited troops operating in southern Syria, a day after Israel executed strikes on Syria, including an attack on the Abu al-Duhur military airbase. The visit was reported by Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
According to Anadolu Agency, Zamir was accompanied by senior officers, received a security briefing, and met with reserve forces stationed in the area. Meanwhile, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) conducted a field tour in the town of Al-Rafid in the southern countryside of Quneitra. The purpose was to assess conditions and follow up on the repercussions of repeated Israeli violations and incursions.
Members of the UNDOF delegation listened to local residents who provided a detailed account of living conditions and the situation on the ground due to Israeli incursions in the area, SANA reported. Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli forces reportedly raided a town in Syria's Quneitra province with more than 100 personnel and 15 vehicles, abducting two people, as per Syrian state television.
In late 2024, Israel seized the Syrian buffer zone, effectively ending the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement. Early Tuesday, Israeli warplanes carried out eight airstrikes targeting the runway of the abandoned Abu al-Duhur military airbase in Idlib, causing material damage to its infrastructure.
On Tuesday evening, Syria addressed the UN and the UN Security Council in two letters, stating that ongoing Israeli attacks, including airstrikes, incursions, and kidnappings, 'undermine stabilization efforts and threaten the region with further tensions.' Syria reiterated its call for an immediate halt to Israeli attacks, demanding that Israel implement the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement and fully withdraw from territories entered after December 8, 2024, as well as from the occupied Syrian Golan.
Before the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, Israel frequently carried out strikes on positions in Syria that it claimed were linked to Iranian-backed forces. Since Assad's departure, Israel has significantly expanded its strikes to include weapons depots and strategic military positions across the country.