"Sufa 53"... Israel paves way for occupation of southern Syria

Damascus (Agencies): The Israeli occupation army has resumed excavation works in southern Syria along the ceasefire line with the occupied Golan, within the so-called “Sufa 53” line, raising concerns among Syrians about the continued violations committed by Tel Aviv against their country’s sovereignty. These fears were renewed following the resumption of Israeli forces’ excavation activities west of Al-Asha village in the countryside of the Quneitra governorate in southern Syria, as part of a project that includes digging a military road parallel to the ceasefire line, inside the buffer zone covered by the Disengagement Agreement signed between the two sides in 1974, according to the official “Al-Ikhbariya Syrian” channel.

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the move “in the strongest terms,” describing it as “a blatant violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and a flagrant breach of international legal resolutions.” It affirmed that “the continuation of the Israeli occupation’s aggressive approach, accompanied by attacks and field incursions, poses a direct threat to regional security and stability, and undermines the provisions of international law.” It also stressed “its firm commitment to its legitimate right to exercise full sovereignty over all its territories, in accordance with the principles of international law and relevant UN resolutions.” The Syrian Foreign Ministry called on the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities in safeguarding the sovereignty of states and respecting the inviolability of their borders.

The risks of expanding this project lie in rendering thousands of dunams of agricultural land in the Quneitra countryside unsuitable for farming and grazing, while negatively affecting water flow and the natural infrastructure of the area, the majority of whose residents depend on agriculture and livestock rearing. Residents of these areas also complain of escalating Israeli incursions, which include raids, arrests, the establishment of checkpoints, searches of passersby, and the spread of panic among school students and shepherds.

“Sufa 53” is a military engineering project launched by Israel in the Quneitra countryside, within the disengagement zone. Construction began in mid-2022, starting from the outskirts of Hader town, heading toward the villages of Jabata al-Khashab and Al-Hamidiya in northern Quneitra, passing through the villages of Al-Qahitaniya, Ruwayhina, Bir Ajam, and Burayqa in the central countryside, and reaching Al-Asha in southern Quneitra. The project was established under the name “Sufa 53,” a Hebrew term meaning “The Great Storm.” Israel claims its objective is to prevent potential attacks by armed groups backed by Iran. However, this Israeli narrative is refuted by the continuation of the project despite the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria on December 8, 2024, and the subsequent withdrawal of armed groups.

Previously, the newspaper “Yedioth Ahronoth” described the project as “a massive engineering project to fortify the border,” noting that it includes deep trenches and defensive barriers as part of “border fortification” measures. Israeli forces intensified work on the project following Assad’s fall, exploiting the security vacuum, allowing incursions into the buffer zone to extend between 300 and 1,000 meters, leading to the seizure of large areas of agricultural land.

The Israeli occupation army confiscated 7,000 dunams of land from Jabata al-Khashab village, and 6,000 dunams from Al-Hamidiya and Al-Hurriya villages, for the project. It also nearly completely destroyed the vegetation cover there, including pastures and wild trees that had constituted a primary source of income for local residents. As part of the project, the Israeli occupation army dug a military road approximately 8 meters wide, reinforced on both sides with earthen barriers nearly 5 meters high. It also established monitoring points and military positions along the line running parallel to the ceasefire line in the occupied Syrian Golan plateau.

In previous statements to the Anadolu Agency, Muhammad al-Sa’id, the media director in Quneitra, said that local authorities had conducted an assessment of the damages, noting that “the total affected area in the northern and central countryside of the governorate reached 12,000 dunams.” Al-Sa’id pointed out that contact had been made with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), but information flow remained limited due to restrictions on media access to the area.

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Israel has expanded the scope of its military operations in Syria, with its forces advancing into the buffer zone in the Golan and adjacent sites.