In Quneitra, no one can celebrate the fall of al-Assad amid the Israeli invasion | Syria’s war news

Quneitra, Syria – Ibrahim al-Dakheel, 55, watched in despair as an Israeli bulldozer demolished his 40-year-old home, claiming it was necessary to secure the borders.

“It was 6:30 a.m. when I heard the explosion,” he told Al Jazeera, pointing to the spot where a Syrian military post once stood near his destroyed home.

He and his family live in al-Rafid, a village in Quneitra Governorate.

Al-Dakheel always sat in his front yard and enjoyed the lush green fields and a flowing spring nearby. Nothing gave him more joy, he said.

But now he and his family are seeking refuge in his parents’ home in the village as he continues to monitor the advance of Israeli forces.

“I saw them moving through the village – trucks and tanks arriving at the town hall along with bulldozers,” he said.

On December 8, under the pretext of seeking weapons and collaborators with the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Iran, Israel launched a military campaign targeting locations across Syria and reaching as far as Quneitra.

Israeli forces set up checkpoints, uprooted trees and destroyed the village’s only military post, which al-Dakheel said was just a small station housing some officers.

Israeli forces have also fired stun grenades, tear gas and live bullets at protesters dissatisfied with their advance into Syria.

The latest incident occurred on Wednesday when Israeli forces fired on a protest against the destruction of several buildings in two Quneitra villages, wounding three people.

Israel’s invasion comes after Syria’s long-time autocratic President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in a lightning offensive by the opposition in early December.

Days later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel’s presence in Syria was “temporary.” However, he later clarified that Israel would remain illegally on Syrian soil until a new security agreement was reached with Syria’s new authority.

A new shift

Maysoun al-Faouri, 47, did not expect to be forced from her home when Israeli forces entered her village.

During Syria’s 13-year civil war, which began as a popular uprising against al-Assad, which he brutally suppressed, al-Faouri, her six children and her husband – who died two months ago of unknown causes – were expelled from al-Faouri -Hajar al-Aswad district, a suburb of Damascus.

They moved to Madinat al-Baath, an area in Quneitra where Israeli forces are stationed just a kilometer away.

Al-Faouri doesn’t entirely trust Israel’s claims that her presence is temporary and fears that Israeli soldiers could be in her home in seconds.

“I told my children, ‘If you want to escape, you can, but I don’t care if I die.’ I don’t even have the money to go. “We are all exhausted, poor and have lost everything,” al-Faouri, a nurse, told Al Jazeera.

“Even the soldiers don’t know how long they will stay here,” she added.

Some people, al-Faouri said, may prefer to stay in villages invaded by Israel because they do not have the financial means to leave.

A story of occupation and fear

Quneitra is located in the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory that Israel invaded and occupied during the 1967 war.

After Israel withdrew from most of the territory it occupied in 1974 – while illegally retaining some of the Golan Heights – and declared a demilitarized zone under UN supervision, the area remained largely neglected.

Today, many residents continue to face uncertainty, although they express hope that the country will recover from the devastating consequences of the conflict.

However, according to 28-year-old lawyer Mohammad al-Fayyad, Israel’s increasing and seemingly indefinite occupation of Syrian territory is already destroying some people’s optimism.

“There is fear and there is a lack of water, electricity and food (in the villages of Quneitra). Unlike in other provinces, schools are closed.

“People who fled to Damascus after the advance of Israeli forces found no shelter and no help,” al-Fayyad said.

Those who have chosen to stay fear Israel’s aggression, especially when protesting the ongoing assault on the country.

Many Syrians, like al-Fayyad, fear that Israel will find a new excuse to seize more Syrian land in the name of “security.”

“We celebrated the victory and the fall of al-Assad, but then came the occupation, which created fear and spoiled the joy,” al-Fayyad said regretfully.

“We are in a new phase… liberation. We should be able to celebrate like the rest of the country.”