Esra Tekin
16 August 2026•Update: 16 August 2026
Israeli forces raided the Syrian town of al-Rafid in the southern Quneitra countryside Saturday night and searched several homes.
Syria’s Al-Ikhbariya TV reported that Israeli forces entered al-Rafid, raiding a number of homes.
The channel provided no further details on the size of the Israeli force involved or whether the raids resulted in any arrests.
It was also not immediately clear whether the Israeli forces had withdrawn from the town.
The incursion comes amid continued Israeli violations of Syrian sovereignty.
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has previously condemned “the ongoing Israeli violations that undermine the security of the entire region,” calling on Israel to withdraw from the territories it has occupied in southern Syria.
Areas of southern Syria have witnessed repeated Israeli incursions and attacks for months, including raids, searches and arrests, as well as the establishment of military checkpoints.
These activities intensified following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, after Israel declared the 1974 Disengagement Agreement to have collapsed and took control of the Syrian buffer zone.
