GENEVA: A UN commission investigating Syria said on Tuesday it was deeply alarmed over Israel’s military activity inside Syrian territory, warning that some actions including the detention of civilians could amount to war crimes.
Presenting an update to the UN Human Rights Council, Commissioner Fionnuala Ni Aolain said Israeli military operations in southern Syria had become “increasingly sustained and entrenched”, with recurring ground incursions, patrols, raids and searches affecting civilians.
The Israeli mission in Geneva accused the Commission of conducting an “Israel-bashing session” and said Israel had no territorial aspirations in Syria. “It maintains a temporary buffer zone amounting to 0.1pc of Syria to protect its citizens from proven security threats,” it said in a statement.
Syria is seeking to rebuild nearly two years after the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad. Israeli troops entered a UN-patrolled buffer zone after the collapse of Assad’s government in December 2024, a move Israel described as temporary and necessary to secure its border during the political transition.
Israel has since carried out hundreds of strikes on Syrian military infrastructure and seized new positions deeper into Syria. The Syrian government and the United Nations have said the deployment violates Syrian sovereignty and a 1974 disengagement agreement that followed the 1973 Middle East war. Israel says its actions are necessary to protect its security.
