DAMASCUS, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces carried out about 70 incursions and other ground movements in southern Syria from Nov. 1 through Nov. 14, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday.
The Britain-based monitor said the activity was concentrated in Quneitra province, the Yarmouk Basin and Wadi al-Ruqad in western Daraa province, and areas around Mount Hermon in the Damascus countryside.
The operations involved patrols through towns and villages, the establishment of temporary checkpoints, house searches and identity checks on civilians, the monitor said, adding that Israeli forces had blocked several secondary roads with earthen barriers.
In one of the latest incidents, Israeli troops entered the town of Jabata al-Khashab in northern Quneitra on Friday night. Syria's state news agency SANA said the troops searched several homes, detained three people and damaged several shops.
The monitor said the troops withdrew Saturday after releasing two of the detainees. It later reported that the third detainee had also been released.
Damascus has called for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Syria, saying the repeated incursions violate the 1974 disengagement agreement, which established a UN-monitored area of separation between Syrian and Israeli forces following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. ■
