Protest rallies held in Syria against repeated Israeli incursions, attacks

Protest rallies were held across Syria on Friday against repeated Israeli incursions in the country's south including one this week that killed a man with a disability. The Israeli military has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria and conducted frequent incursions into its territory since the new government took power after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. It also sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the mainly Israeli-occupied Golan Heights since 1974. Protesters rallied in Damascus and central Syria's Homs, decrying Israeli incursions and attacks in the southern Quneitra and Daraa provinces, state media reported. Israeli troops have bulldozed olive groves, set up checkpoints and detained residents. An AFP correspondent in Daraa city saw hundreds rallying, some waving Syrian flags. Protester Taysir al-Hariri told AFP that demonstrators had gathered to "send a message to the world" that Syria stands united "against Israeli incursions and against anyone who is tempted to tamper... with national security". State television footage of other rallies showed protesters carrying posters reading "We are all Moaz", referring to the man with special needs who Syria said was killed by Israeli fire a day earlier during an incursion in Daraa province. In Damascus, outside a United Nations building, the family of a Syrian man seized by Israel called for his release, with children holding posters reading "I want my dad". State media on Friday also reported that Israeli forces advanced in part of Quneitra province and blocked several roads. Israel has vowed to keep troops in a so-called "security zone" in southern Syria, where it seeks a broader demilitarised area. Report by AFP Syrians hold portraits of people who were arrested during Israeli military incursions in southern Syria, as they protest near the United Nations building in Damascus, on 23 October 2026. (AFP)