Syria Demands Israeli Withdrawal After Fatal Strike and Quneitra Advance

Syrian protesters demonstrated across the country on Friday to oppose repeated Israeli military operations in the south. The rallies followed a strike earlier this week that killed a man with a disability and a simultaneous expansion of Israeli forces into Quneitra province.

State media reported large crowds gathering in the capital, Damascus, and in Homs, located in central Syria. Participants waved national flags and denounced attacks in the southern provinces of Quneitra and Daraa. Taysir al-Hariri, a protester in Daraa, told AFP that the crowd aimed to "send a message to the world" that Syria stands united "against Israeli incursions and against anyone who is tempted to tamper. with national security".

Footage from state television showed marchers carrying posters with the slogan "We are all Moaz." The name refers to the man with special needs whom Syrian officials said was killed by Israeli fire during an incursion in Daraa province. Outside a United Nations building in Damascus, the family of a man seized by Israeli forces held up signs reading "I want my dad" to demand his release.

On the ground in Quneitra, Israeli troops advanced into parts of the province and blocked several roads. Forces bulldozed olive groves and established checkpoints, detaining local residents in the process. State media confirmed these movements on Friday.

The Israeli military has conducted hundreds of strikes and frequent incursions since a new government assumed power after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Troops also entered the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights, an area that had separated the two militaries since 1974.

Israel has pledged to maintain troops in a designated "security zone" in southern Syria. The country seeks to expand this area into a wider demilitarized strip.