Spanish journalists David Melero and Luay Al Basha said Israeli incursions into southern Syria, which began after the country’s liberation on December 8, 2024, were followed by restrictions on residents’ movements and the blockade of several towns, disrupting daily life and access to schools and essential services.
Their accounts draw on field observations and testimonies collected while reporting from the region.
Speaking to SANA, the journalists said they travelled to Syria to document the political and social changes following the deposed regime’s fall. They reported an expanding Israeli military presence and said Israeli soldiers attempted to force them to delete photographs and videos recorded during their reporting.
Melero said a local resident helped them reach a village where people faced difficulties leaving. Movement restrictions prevented children from attending school and residents from reaching work, while hampering access to food, water and transport.
He said they witnessed gunfire directed at residential buildings, whose residents showed them bullet marks on walls and ceilings.
Al Basha said they travelled to Khan Arnabeh to document developments following the ousted regime’s fall and saw an Israeli tank aiming towards the town. They then visited al-Hamidiyah, where residents were using back roads to reach essential services and supplies.
He added that they documented Israeli soldiers treating elderly residents in a degrading manner. Residents told the journalists they had been unable to celebrate Syria’s liberation because Israeli forces had imposed a cordon around them.
Residents also reported raids, the displacement of some inhabitants and incidents in which people were beaten.
In his address to the UN General Assembly on September 23, President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Israel had carried out approximately 500 air and artillery strikes and more than 1,200 incursions into Syria, alongside approximately 300 cases of arrest and detention of Syrians.
He said these actions threatened the country’s stability and ran counter to the international community’s approach. He reaffirmed Syria’s commitment to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and called for Israeli occupation forces to withdraw to the lines held on December 8, 2024.
Speaking on Saturday at a session on the pillars of regional security during the 22nd Manama Dialogue, Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani said state-building efforts faced existential challenges in southern Syria. He said Syrian territory had suffered more than 1,000 Israeli attacks in less than two years, killing dozens.
