Residents of Quneitra governorate gathered on Monday evening for the funeral of Muhammad Dabbour in Jaba village, his hometown in the governorate’s countryside, after he was killed by Israeli forces, amid reports of shooting incidents and other military movements in the area. Dabbour’s relatives received his body from the Golan National Hospital in al-Salam city, Quneitra, before taking it to Jaba village for the funeral rites.
Muhammad Dabbour’s body handed over to his relatives
A Syrian Red Crescent delegation had received the body from Israeli forces stationed in Hamidiya village in the governorate’s countryside, in coordination with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). The Israeli army announced that it had killed a person who, it said, had “attempted to infiltrate a military position” at midnight on Monday.
Israeli media, meanwhile, reported that the deceased was not carrying a weapon and had only a telephone and money in his possession. A Syria Now correspondent said Dabbour was 22 years old and of Palestinian origin. The funeral took place hours after another incident in which Israeli forces opened fire on two people in the Quneitra governorate countryside.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the army had opened fire on two people it described as “suspects” after they approached a military position in Quneitra. According to the newspaper’s account, one of the two was wounded, while Israeli forces arrested the other, who is being interrogated.
Farmers shot at near Beit Jin
In a separate incident, Israeli forces opened fire on farmers during an incursion around Beit Jin in the Damascus countryside. Yusuf al-Saadi, a resident of the town, said he came under fire while heading to work in the livestock trade. In an interview with a Syria Now correspondent, al-Saadi said Israeli forces stationed near the main road targeted his car, noting that only a few centimetres separated him from the bullet that struck the vehicle.
In another move, Israeli forces set up a temporary checkpoint at the Wadi al-Raqad Bridge between Quneitra and Daraa governorates, as well as a second checkpoint on the road linking Ain Dhikr village in the Daraa countryside with Saida al-Jolan village in the Quneitra countryside. The forces searched passers-by before withdrawing towards the Syrian Golan.
These developments coincided with Israeli forces resuming, a day earlier, excavation work on the “Sufa 53” project on the outskirts of al-Asha village in the southern Quneitra countryside. “Sufa 53” is a military engineering project being carried out by Israeli forces in the Quneitra countryside within the disengagement zone.
Implementation of the project began in mid-2022, starting from the outskirts of Hader towards the villages of Jbata al-Khashab and Hamidiya in the northern countryside, passing through Qahtaniyah, Ruwayhinah, Bi’r Ajam and Bariqa in the central countryside, and reaching al-Asha in southern Quneitra.
