Three people were killed on Wednesday after an Israeli drone bombed a convoy belonging to forces loyal to Syria’s new authorities in Quneitra province.
The attack took place in the village of Ghadeer al-Bustan, near the buffer zone separating the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria, and is believed to be the first direct Israeli attack on forces from Syria’s military operations administration.
The Syrian Shaam News Network said that the mayor of Ghadeer al-Bustan, Abdou Al-Kouma was among those killed in the strikes as well as two fighters from the convoy.
Local sources told Shaam that the aim of the Israeli strike was to prevent the Syrian forces from entering the village to collect weapons after armed clashes broke out between two families in the village.
The fighting between the two families involved the use of mortars and machine guns, leading to several people being killed.
One of the families reportedly had links to the deposed Assad regime and notables from the village called on the military operations administration to intervene.
After the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rebels on 8 December last year, Israel invaded the demilitarised, UN-patrolled buffer zone near the Golan Heights, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.
It has forced Syrians in the area to leave their towns and villages and launched massive airstrikes on military facilities in the rest of Syria, with the aim of destroying the country’s strategic weapons.
Israeli ministers and officials have also reportedly discussed plans to divide Syria into autonomous cantons, under the pretext of protecting religious and ethnic minorities, as well as plans to extend Israel’s area of occupation and influence in Syria.
Israeli forces have continued to take over more land and villages in southern Quneitra province. The Shaam News Network reported that Israeli forces launched an incursion into the village of Muallaqa last Saturday.
The New Arab
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