Israeli forces withdrew from the village of Abidin in western Daraa province late on Sunday after residents blocked roads and threw stones at a military patrol that had entered the area and erected tents, according to local officials and Syrian state media. The Israeli troops responded with artillery shells and machine-gun fire from a helicopter, causing no reported casualties but prompting a temporary displacement of families to neighbouring towns. By Monday morning, a patrol from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) toured the village and some residents began returning, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and official news agency SANA reported.

The Syrian foreign ministry condemned the incursions and shelling in Daraa and Quneitra governorates “in the strongest terms,” describing them as a “flagrant violation of Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity” and a breach of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. The statement, carried by multiple Arabic-language outlets, called on the UN and the international community to halt the repeated violations. The interim government in Damascus, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, has previously demanded Israel withdraw from the buffer zone it occupied after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Condemnations also came from Arab and regional governments. Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry expressed “complete rejection” of the Israeli practices, which it said terrorise civilians and violate international law, and stressed the need to adhere to the 1974 accord. Qatar described the attack as a “flagrant violation” of Syrian sovereignty and warned that continued Israeli operations would undermine security and stability. Jordan’s foreign ministry spokesperson called the incursions a “dangerous and provocative escalation” and urged the international community to compel Israel to stop. The United Arab Emirates similarly condemned the attacks and called for immediate international action to halt the escalation. Turkey’s foreign ministry said the attacks “blatantly violate international law” and called on the international community to fulfil its obligations. Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida hailed the residents of Abidin for confronting the Israeli forces and described the aggression as an extension of attacks on Palestine and Lebanon.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said armed militants had opened fire on an Israeli stronghold but nobody was harmed, and that Israeli soldiers had killed two militants elsewhere in southern Syria who were planning an attack. The Israeli military had earlier announced it “neutralised a number of armed men in the security zone” without specifying a location. Israeli officials have repeatedly stated that the operations in southern Syria aim to prevent armed groups, including Hezbollah, from establishing a presence near the border. Since seizing the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights after Assad’s ouster, Israeli forces have conducted regular ground incursions, house raids, and airstrikes, which local officials say have included the bulldozing of farmland and the arrest of civilians.

The Abidin incident marks the first time residents of a populated village have physically blocked an Israeli patrol and forced its withdrawal, according to a local media official cited by An-Nahar. The broader pattern of Israeli military activity has drawn repeated diplomatic protests but no concrete international enforcement measures. The 1974 Disengagement Agreement remains the formal framework invoked by all condemning parties, yet its provisions are not being observed on the ground. The dossier remains open, with no scheduled Security Council session announced and no indication of a change in the Israeli military posture.