Copyright plenglish
According to local residents quoted by several media outlets, the mines were laid around a recently established military post, raising concerns about the direct threat this poses to residents and the environment in an area characterized by its natural wealth. The border strip between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Quneitra has experienced increased tensions in recent weeks, with the Israeli occupier fortifying positions, carrying out military incursions, and establishing new posts and fortifications near the lines of separation. In recent months, the Israeli army has intensified its operations to clear oak trees in the Jabata al-Khashab Nature Reserve, north of Quneitra, an action denounced by activists and local officials as a serious environmental violation and a crime against the Syrian natural identity in the Golan Heights. Residents of the villages of Jabata al-Khashab and Taranja reported that, since last June, Tel Aviv deployed trucks, excavators, and bulldozers to uproot trees and transport them to the occupied territories. Testimonies poited out that the operations intensified in October, with an increase in the felling and transport of oak trees. Furthermore, the occupation forces continued their military incursions and arbitrary detentions of Syrian citizens. The Syrian authorities have reiterated their condemnation of these actions, calling them further violations of national sovereignty and international law, as well as posing a serious threat to the safety of civilians and the preservation of the natural environment in the occupied Golan. jdt/arm/mem/fm
