Latest news with #Quneitra
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
BBC journalists detained at gunpoint in southern Syria
LONDON: Israeli Defense Forces detained, blindfolded, tied up and strip-searched at gunpoint seven members of a BBC Arabic crew as they approached the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a BBC journalist said on Thursday. Feras Kilani, a British special correspondent for BBC Arabic, said he was among the team detained for seven hours at a checkpoint near the barrier of Quneitra city, located within the buffer zone between Syria and Israel. 'A minute after we started filming in the area, a white car approached from the other side of the checkpoint. Four Israeli soldiers got out of the car and surrounded us. They pointed their rifles at our heads and ordered us to place the camera on the side of the road,' wrote Kilani in a BBC article. The crew's phones and laptops were inspected, with some files deleted, and their vehicle was thoroughly searched as they were led into a room, tied up and blindfolded. Kilani's team included two Iraqi BBC staff members and four Syrians, among them three freelancers and a cameraman. 'I pleaded to the officer to release them, and he promised to do so after the interrogations. They were taken one by one to the same room for strip search and questioning.' Kilani said the team was also threatened before their release in the evening: 'The officer threatened us with worse consequences if we approached the frontier from the Syrian side again and said that they know everything about us and would track us down if any hidden or un-deleted photo was ever published.' In a statement, the BBC said it had filed a complaint with the Israeli military over the incident but had yet to receive a response. 'The BBC strongly objects to the treatment of our staff and freelancers in this way. Despite making clear to the soldiers on multiple occasions they were working for the BBC, the behavior they were subjected to is wholly unacceptable,' the broadcaster said.
BBC News
8 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Held at gunpoint: BBC team detained by Israeli forces in southern Syria
On the morning of 9 May, I was part of a BBC Arabic team which left the Syrian capital, Damascus, for the southern province of Deraa. From there we planned to go to the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan wanted to get close to the Syrian territory that has been seized by the Israeli military since December, when Israel's prime minister said it was taking control indefinitely of a demilitarised buffer zone and neighbouring areas following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's were a team of seven - myself (a British citizen), two Iraqi BBC staff, and four Syrians - three freelancers and one BBC cameraman. We were filming near one of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) observation posts, close to the town of al-Rafeed, when an official from the UN told us that the Israeli side had inquired about our identity and had been informed that we were a BBC next drove north towards Quneitra city, which has been located inside the buffer zone since a 1974 disengagement agreement between Syria and Israel, which captured the Golan during the 1967 Middle East 200m (660ft) away from the city, an unguarded checkpoint blocked the road. To the side of the checkpoint we spotted Merkava tanks, one of which was flying an Israeli a nearby tower, two Israeli soldiers were watching us - one of them through binoculars - and my colleague held his BBC ID up for them to BBC has complained to the Israeli military about what happened next to my team, but it has not yet received a response. A minute after we started filming in the area, a white car approached from the other side of the Israeli soldiers got out of the car and surrounded us. They pointed their rifles at our heads and ordered us to place the camera on the side of the road. I tried to explain that we were a BBC crew, but things escalated unexpectedly quickly.I was able to send a message to my BBC colleagues in London saying that we had been stopped by the Israeli military before our phones and all equipment were confiscated, more Israeli soldiers arrived in a Humvee military vehicle, and our car was thoroughly soldiers escorted us through a barrier into the city of Quneitra and stopped at the crossing point that separates Quneitra from the occupied Golan. There, the soldiers began reviewing the footage as we sat in our car, while one pointed his rifle at my head from metres away. After more than two hours, one of the soldiers asked me to step out of the car and speak on a mobile phone.I didn't know who the person on the line was. He spoke broken Arabic. He asked why we were filming Israeli military positions. I told him I was a British BBC journalist and explained to him the nature of our work. I returned to my car, and the rifle was again aimed at my another hour of waiting, one more vehicle arrived. A group of security personnel got out of the car carrying blindfolds and plastic zip ties and asked me to step out lead officer, who spoke fluent Palestinian Arabic dialect, took me by the hand towards one of the rooms at the crossing point which were previously used by the Syrian army. The floor was strewn with broken glass and rubbish. He told me that they would treat me differently - no handcuffs, nor blindfold - unlike the rest of my team.I was in shock. I asked why they were doing this when they knew we were a BBC said he wanted to help get us out quickly and that we had to comply with their instructions. Moments later, another officer entered and told me to take off all my clothes except my underwear. I initially refused, but they insisted, and threatened me, so I complied. He inspected even inside my underwear, both front and back, searched my clothes, then told me to put them back on and started interrogating me - including personal questions about my children and their they eventually let me out of the room, I witnessed the horrific scene of my team members, tied up and blindfolded. I pleaded to the officer to release them, and he promised to do so after the interrogations. They were taken one by one to the same room for strip search and returned with their hands still bound but not blindfolded. The team's interrogation lasted more than two hours, during which all our phones and laptops were examined, and many photos - including personal ones - were officer threatened us with worse consequences if we approached the frontier from the Syrian side again, and said that they know everything about us and would track us down if any hidden or un-deleted photo was ever seven hours after our detention - it was past 21:00 - we were taken by two vehicles, one in front of our car and the other behind us, to a rural area about 2km (1.2 miles) outside Quneitra. There, the vehicles stopped and a bag containing our phones was thrown towards us before the vehicles in the dark with no signal, no internet and no idea where we were, we kept driving until we reached a small village.A group of children pointed us to the highway, warning that a wrong turn could draw Israeli fire. Ten tense minutes later, we found the road. Forty-five minutes after that, we were in Damascus.
Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israel Says Rockets Fired from Syria for the First Time Since Bashar Assad's Fall
The Israeli army said two rockets were fired from Syria into open areas in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, marking the first time a strike has been launched toward Israel from Syrian territory since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December. Syrian state media reported that Israel shelled the western countryside of Syria's Daraa province after the rocket launch. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, also reported Israeli airstrikes that caused 'violent explosions' around the city of Quneitra and in the Daraa countryside. A group calling itself the Mohammed Deif Brigades — named after a Hamas military leader killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza last year — claimed the attack in a post on Telegram. The group first surfaced on social media a few days before. 'Until now, it's just a Telegram channel. It's not known if it is a real group,' said Ahmed Aba Zeid, a Syrian researcher who has studied armed factions in southern Syria. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Israel considers 'the Syrian president directly responsible for every threat and firing toward the State of Israel' and warned of a 'full response' to come 'as soon as possible.' Israel has been suspicious of the former opposition fighters who formed the new Syrian government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syria and seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory since Assad's fall. Syria's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run TV channel that it has 'not yet verified the accuracy' of the reports of strikes launched from Syria toward Israel. 'We affirm that Syria has not and will not pose a threat to any party in the region,' the statement said. It condemned the Israeli shelling, which it said had resulted in 'significant human and material losses.' The US, which has warmed to al-Sharaa's government and recently moved to lift some sanctions previously imposed on Syria, has pushed for Syria to normalize relations with Israel. In a recent interview with the Jewish Journal, al-Sharaa said he wants to see a return to a 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries but stopped short of proposing immediate normalization, saying that 'peace must be earned through mutual respect, not fear.'
Arab News
2 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Israel army says shelling Syria after projectiles launched
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it was shelling targets in Syria on Tuesday in response to a pair of projectile launches, with Defense Minister Israel Katz saying he held Syria's leader 'directly responsible.' A military statement said that 'two projectiles were identified crossing from Syria into Israeli territory, and fell in open areas,' adding in a subsequent statement that its 'artillery struck in southern Syria' following the launches. Syria's official news agency SANA reported shelling 'targeting the Yarmuk Basin, in the west of Daraa' province. Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said bombardments had hit farmland in the province, without reporting casualties. 'Violent explosions shook southern Syria, notably the town of Quneitra and the Daraa region, following Israeli aerial strikes' overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, the monitor said in a statement. Israel said it had targeted weapons belonging to Syrian authorities following the launch of the projectiles. There were no reports of casualties or damage on the Israeli side due to the projectiles, which the military said triggered air raid sirens in parts of the southern Golan Heights, a territory Israel conquered from Syria in 1967 and annexed in 1981. Katz, the Israeli defense minister, said in a statement released by his office that 'we view the president of Syria as directly responsible for any threat or fire directed at the State of Israel.' 'A full response will follow shortly,' he added. Syria's interim president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, led the Islamist group that spearheaded the offensive that toppled longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December. Israeli media said Tuesday's projectiles were the first fired from Syria into Israeli territory since Assad's fall. Following his overthrow, Israel moved its forces into the UN-patrolled demilitarised zone in the Golan Heights, and has carried out hundreds of strikes against military targets in Syria. Israel says the strikes aim to stop advanced weapons reaching Syria's new authorities, whom it considers jihadists. In a statement on Sunday, Israel's military said its troops were continuing 'defensive operations in southern Syria' to 'dismantle terrorist infrastructure and protect the residents of the Golan Heights.' Syria and Israel have technically been at war since 1948.
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Israel launches strikes on weapons in southern Syria
Israel said it had launched strikes on weapons belonging to Syria, hours after reports that two projectiles had been fired from Syria into Israel on Israeli strikes on southern Syria caused "significant human and material losses", Syria's foreign ministry said, adding that Israel was "trying to destabilise the region". Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he held Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa responsible for the projectiles launched into recent indirect talks to ease tensions between the two countries, Israel has stepped up attacks on targets in Syria since Sharaa led a rebel offensive that overthrew Bashar al-Assad's regime in December 2024. "Violent explosions shook southern Syria, notably the town of Quneitra and the Daraa region, following Israeli aerial strikes," said the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring a statement, Syria's foreign ministry said: "This escalation constitutes a blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty and aggravates tensions in the region."Syria has never been and will never be a threat to anyone in the region." It was unclear how many people were killed or injured in Israel's strikes. Israel said the strikes came after two projectiles launched from Syria landed in open areas of the country, causing no media reported that the strikes were the first launched from Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. It was not immediately clear who fired the projectiles."We consider the president of Syria directly responsible for any threat and fire toward the State of Israel," Katz foreign ministry said reports of the launches from inside Syria "have not been verified yet".When the Assad regime was deposed, Israel launched a wave of attacks to degrade Syrian military has also encouraged the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights, territory which Israel seized from Syria in 1976 and is considered illegally occupied under international month, US President Donald Trump announced plans to lift decade-old sanctions on Syria, imposed in response to atrocities committed by forces loyal to Assad during a 13-year civil that conflict, more than 600,000 people were killed and 12 million others were forced from their month, Israel bombed an area near Syria's presidential palace in Damascus, a strike which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was a "clear message" that it would "not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus".UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the bombing was a "violation of Syria's sovereignty".
