Families of Syrians detained by Israel held a protest in rural Quneitra (southern Syria), demanding information about their relatives’ fate and their release, while calling on the United Nations to intervene and follow up on the detainees’ conditions.
The families presented their demands today, Monday, August 17, outside the headquarters of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF, in the Naba al-Fawwar area of northern rural Quneitra.
Hiyam al-Aryan, the mother of detainees Hamza and Ali al-Kouma from Ghadir al-Bustan, told Enab Baladi that she participated in the protest outside UNDOF to learn the outcome of the UN mission’s communications with the Israeli army regarding the detainees.
She said some detainees have been held for a year and others for two years, while her two sons have been detained for six months, since February 16. She added that she knows nothing about their fate.
Al-Aryan appealed to the Syrian government to take urgent action to determine the detainees’ fate and secure their release.
Hassan Saad al-Din, the father of detainee Saddam, who was arrested by Israeli army forces on April 25, 2024, told Enab Baladi that the families’ protest outside the UN forces’ headquarters was intended to pressure the United Nations to urge Israeli forces to provide information about the detainees’ fate.
He said the families had learned that their relatives were suffering from health problems and complicated skin diseases, adding that “there is complete silence from the United Nations, the Red Cross, and human rights organizations.”
Israeli forces had arrested 47 people from Quneitra, Daraa, and Rural Damascus governorates, including minors, and released four people in July after they had been detained for nearly a year.
Families of the detainees have continued to organize protests outside UNDOF positions, demanding the release of Syrians held by Israel.
Incursion and New Arrests
An Israeli force entered the village of Abidin in western rural Daraa (southern Syria) at dawn today, Monday, carried out a search operation, and arrested four residents before later releasing two of them.
Israeli forces also released detainees from Quneitra Governorate in southern Syria on August 5.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Quneitra reported that the Israeli army released Ahmed Abdul Hamid al-Karyan and Mizer Majed al-Hutaimi, both from Suwaysah in the southern countryside of the governorate.
The correspondent said they were released after spending a year in Israeli prisons.
A protest outside the UNDOF headquarters in Quneitra demanding the release of detainees held in Israeli prisons, August 17, 2026. (Enab Baladi)
Repeated Incursions and Arrests
Israel began incursions into Syrian territory from the first moments following the fall of the former Syrian regime on December 8, 2024, citing the protection of its national security from those it describes as “extremists,” a reference to Syria’s current authorities.
The incursions have included continuing arrests of residents from Syria’s southern governorates bordering Israel, particularly Quneitra.
Arrests by Israeli forces in southern Syria are among the measures placing pressure on residents of the area, alongside incursions, searches, checkpoints, land bulldozing, and home demolitions.
Israeli incursions and search campaigns have increasingly caused fear among residents that some young men could be detained, effectively leading to enforced disappearance because no information is provided about where Israel takes detainees and there is no opportunity to communicate with them.
The number of detainees from Quneitra, Daraa, and Rural Damascus governorates is estimated at 47.