Israeli occupation forces continue to prevent farmers from the town of Koya in the western countryside of Daraa from accessing their agricultural crops in the depths of the Yarmouk Valley, following weeks of escalation in the region that resulted in the deaths and injuries of several townspeople.
On March 28 and 29, Israel arrested more than ten individuals over the course of those two days and later released them, attempting to interrogate the detainees about the events that took place in their town. They conveyed a message that any farmer attempting to access his land in the Yarmouk Basin would be arrested.
Verbal messages
Adel al-Hamdan, one of the detainees arrested by Israeli forces and later released, told Enab Baladi that Israel attempted to interrogate him and others to gather information about certain individuals from the town, and armed groups therein.
He added that the occupation forces conveyed a message to them stating that farmers were prohibited from accessing their agricultural projects exposed to the Jazira area.
The Jazira is considered a strategic location, as it separates the Wadi al-Raqad and Wadi al-Yarmouk and overlooks the occupied Golan Heights, Syrian borders, and Jordanian borders.
On March 25 of last year, Israel attempted to infiltrate towards the town of Koya, prompting some residents of the city to confront them using light weapons. The Israeli forces responded with ten shells, resulting in the deaths of six people and injuries to several residents of the town.
During their incursion, Israel opened the earthen barrier that separated the town of Koya from the Jazira site where Israeli forces have fortified since the fall of the Assad regime, exposing part of the agricultural lands to their stronghold in the Jazira area.
Losses suffered by farmers
Adnan al-Oqla, a farmer from Koya who has eight dunams of zucchini, has been unable to reach his crop for over a week.
Al-Oqla had started harvesting the crop he replanted a few days before being barred from accessing his agricultural land after the destruction of his first crop due to a frost wave that hit last season.
Al-Oqla told Enab Baladi that he planted this crop to be able to pay off debts incurred due to losses from the first crop, but he will incur greater losses if Israel continues to prevent him from reaching his land, as the crop needs pesticide spraying and irrigation. Delays in harvesting the crop affect the quality of the plants and fruits.
The mayor of Koya, Amjad Suleiman, told Enab Baladi that after Israel removed the earthen barrier separating the town from the military point on the Jazira area, approximately 1,500 dunams of agricultural lands in the depths of the valley were exposed to the Israeli forces, which are preventing farmers from accessing these exposed lands.
Suleiman added that the total area of agricultural lands in the town of Koya in the valley reaches 3,500 dunams, of which approximately 1,500 dunams are out of service.
He pointed out that the townspeople have not yet approached the UN peacekeeping forces, and they are still working on forming a delegation to meet with Syrian government officials to discuss the issue of preventing farmers.
The mayor also stated that time is not on the farmers’ side, as early crops are sensitive and need daily care.
Previously, Israel had prevented farmers of the neighboring town of Ma’ariya from accessing their crops, mandating that each farmer review the Israeli point both while going and returning, which the farmers in the area rejected, causing them economic losses, as the border area residents rely on early agricultural production, according to the mayor.
Israel also prevented beekeepers from accessing their apiaries, which contain nearly 2,500 hives, despite the owners’ appeals to the UN peacekeeping forces deployed in the area to intervene to retrieve their hives.
The peacekeeping forces in the area requested an official letter from the Syrian government to allow the retrieval of their hives. While the beekeepers managed to obtain this letter, Israel did not respond to the mediation of the UN forces and prevented the retrieval of the hives, which have deteriorated over time.
During his participation in the emergency Arab summit held in Cairo on March 5, the Syrian transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, called on Arab countries to take responsibility in supporting Syria to combat Israel’s policies and to pressure it to withdraw from southern Syria (referring to the ground incursions carried out by Israel in southern Syria after the fall of the Assad regime, which continue to this day), emphasizing Syria’s commitment to the 1974 agreement.
Movement towards escalation
Since the fall of the regime, Israel has launched a series of similar airstrikes in southern Syria, claiming to target the military arsenal of the ousted regime.
Simultaneously with the airstrikes, Israeli military vehicles have entered Syrian areas in the Daraa and Quneitra governorates in southern Syria, continuing to infiltrate and withdraw from them almost daily to this day.
Israeli airstrikes in southern Syria have recurred since the fall of the Assad regime, as Israel states it will prevent any Syrian military presence in the Daraa, Quneitra, and As-Suwayda governorates.
Israel prevents farmers from accessing their lands in Daraa Enab Baladi.
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