Israeli Defense Forces vehicles seen during a previous incursion into southern Syria, October 18th, 2026. Photo courtesy of the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).Israeli forces entered several locations in Syria’s Quneitra province on Sunday, October 18, detaining two people in al-Hurriya.Three Israeli military vehicles entered the village as two tanks took positions on its outskirts. The force withdrew after the detentions. Elsewhere, more than 10 military vehicles advanced to Tal Kroum, near Jaba, while another force established checkpoints along the road between al-Samadaniyah al-Sharqiyah and al-Ejref, searched passersby and withdrew.The two men detained in al-Hurriya were residents of neighboring Taranja, according to Horrya Press. The outlet reported that Israeli forces stopped them at a checkpoint Sunday evening while they were riding a motorcycle to buy supplies. Troops checked their identification, confiscated the motorcycle and took them into Israeli-held territory without explanation. Their names were not released.In southern Quneitra, eight Israeli vehicles entered al-Hanout farm, where troops temporarily held civilians. Israeli forces also fired more than five artillery rounds near Tal Ahmar, close to Ain al-Nouriya. No casualties were reported from the shelling and did not identify a target.Enab Baladi reported additional operations, including Israeli forces firing stun grenades near Tal Ahmar and opening fire toward farmland around Mazare al-Amal and Ain al-Nouriya as reconnaissance drones flew overhead. About 15 military vehicles entered a village the outlet identified as al-Ajraf, where troops deployed among homes and searched houses. Israeli forces also bulldozed farmland in the Quneitra and Daraa countryside, including farmland and olive trees in Saida al-Hanout.Syria’s Foreign Ministry condemned the incursions as a violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. It cited increased Israeli helicopter, reconnaissance aircraft and warplane activity over the south, along with house raids, arbitrary detentions and land clearing. Calling the operations a “flagrant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the ministry declared Israel’s measures in the area “null and void” under international law and demanded a full withdrawal from occupied Syrian territory.The October 18 detentions followed four on October 17, when Israeli forces detained two men near Taranja and two people at al-Razzaniyah and Abu Madhra farms in southern Quneitra. One was released after several hours, according to Arab News. The Kurdish outlet Hawar News Agency reported that the two men detained near Taranja had been working in olive groves and were released the following day. Enab Baladi also reported that about 12 Israeli vehicles had entered Abdin, in the Daraa countryside, on October 15.The operations followed a September surge. On October 9, the UN human rights office reported 280 armed Israeli incursions into southern Syria in September, the highest monthly total this year. It also said Israel was holding 49 Syrians, though it could not independently verify that figure. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recorded 1,194 Israeli incursions into Syria between December 8, 2024, and October 16, 2026.Israel has not publicly explained the October 18 operations or detentions. Following an October 5 incident in which troops detained two men approaching an Israeli post by motorcycle, the IDF said it would continue operating in southern Syria’s security zone to remove threats to Israeli civilians and troops.One possible explanation is a search for Iranian-linked networks, given the overlap between the locations of the operations and sites identified by the Alma Center, an Israeli research group focused on the northern border. Alma lists al-Hurriya, Ain al-Nouriya, Jubata al-Khashab and Saida al-Hanout among 45 southern Syrian localities linked to Hezbollah’s Golan unit or local militias. It says these networks recruited Sunni and Druze Syrians primarily for money. This overlap, however, does not establish the purpose of the October 18 operations.Other arrests illustrate continued Iranian-linked activity in the region. In July 2025, the IDF reported arresting a cell working for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Quneitra. On September 29, 2026, Syrian security forces arrested a Hezbollah-linked cell building rocket-launch infrastructure in western Daraa.Quneitra’s population is overwhelmingly Sunni Arab, although its northern sector includes Hader, the area’s largest Druze village. Since October 5, Israel has been extending Sufa 53, a roughly 70-kilometer road running from Hader’s outskirts to the Yarmouk Basin, with earthen embankments, observation posts and trenches. Israeli media describe the project as a barrier against Iran and its proxies.Israel and Syria signed the Disengagement Agreement on May 31, 1974, committing to observe a cease-fire on land, sea and air. The agreement’s published text placed all territory east of Line A under Syrian administration and established an area of separation between Lines A and B, monitored by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). The UN Security Council created UNDOF through Resolution 350 that day.Israel entered the area of separation after Bashar al-Assad’s fall. On December 8, 2024, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the agreement had collapsed because Syrian troops had abandoned their positions. He described Israel’s occupation of those positions as a temporary defensive measure to prevent hostile forces from establishing themselves along the border.Israel, Syria and the United States met in Paris on January 6, 2026, and agreed to establish a joint communication mechanism under U.S. supervision. In February, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani reportedly said the talks concerned Israel’s withdrawal from territory occupied since December 2024, excluding control of the Golan Heights.The UN Secretary-General’s March 2026 report on UNDOF documented the IDF’s continued presence on the Syrian side of the area of separation, according to Security Council Report. As of February 13, Israeli forces had maintained and reinforced 11 positions in the areas of separation and limitation. The report also recorded 13 restrictions on UNDOF movement, including Israeli roadblocks and gates.Israel has said it will hold the buffer zone indefinitely to enforce demilitarization and counter threats from southern Syria. On June 25, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2824, extending UNDOF’s mandate through December 31, 2026.Israeli troops continue to rotate through what the IDF calls its southern Syria security zone. On September 23, the IDF announced that the 2nd Brigade would replace the 228th Brigade after a roughly three-month deployment, according to The Jerusalem Post.The IDF said troops had questioned dozens of suspects, detained several operatives and recovered weapons, including RPGs, mortar shells and Kalashnikov rifles. Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated Israel’s sovereignty claim over the Golan Heights, calling the territory “an inseparable part of the State of Israel.”The post Syria Situation Report: Israeli Incursions on October 18 appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.