UN expresses concern over continued Israeli military incursions into southern Syria

Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed concern over the continued incursions of Israeli occupation forces into Syrian territory and the repercussions of their operations on civilians in southern Syria, particularly the arbitrary detention of at least 49 Syrians. This came in a statement issued from the Office of the High Commissioner in Geneva, in which Türk announced that his office had documented approximately 280 incidents of armed incursions by the Israeli occupation into Syria during September, the highest number recorded in a single month since the beginning of this year.

The UN official noted that occupation forces raided homes, imposed movement restrictions, harassed and intimidated civilians, and carried out arbitrary detentions and destruction of livelihoods, according to reports received by his office. He emphasized that his office continues to investigate the total number of individuals arbitrarily detained by occupation forces.

He clarified that incoming information also indicates that occupation forces have detained individuals without providing any justification, subjected them to torture and ill-treatment, beaten them, forced them to stand for prolonged periods, deployed dogs against detainees, and threatened to harm them and their family members.

He added that his office had received reports of occupation forces shooting and killing a young man and injuring another person with a disability in the city of Quneitra within the areas of incursion.

In this context, Türk called for a prompt and impartial investigation, urging the occupation authorities to halt hostilities and respect international human rights law and international humanitarian law.