UN investigators said on Tuesday that Israeli operations in Syria, including the detention of dozens of people, may amount to “war crimes”.
“We are deeply alarmed by violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by Israel on Syrian territory, which may amount to war crimes,” Commissioner Fionnuala Ni Aolain told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria, mainly targeting military sites. Israel has said the strikes are aimed at preventing the new authorities from taking control of the former regime’s weapons stockpiles.
Israeli forces have also moved beyond the buffer zone bordering the Golan Heights, most of which Israel has occupied since 1967, reaching Mount Hermon on the border between Lebanon and Syria. Israel has said it intends to establish a demilitarised zone in southern Syria, while Israeli officials have repeatedly said its forces have no plans to withdraw.
READ: Israeli forces raid, search home in southwestern Syria’s Quneitra province: State media
