In Israeli-occupied south Syria, villagers feel abandoned

In the towns and villages of southern Syria that Israel has occupied since the overthrow of longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad, soldiers and residents size each other up from a distance.

The main street of the village of Jabata al-Khashab is largely deserted as a foot patrol of Israeli troops passes through it.

Most villagers have cloistered themselves inside their homes since the troops arrived. A few look on through windows and from rooftops.

It is the same story in nearby Baath City, named for the now suspended political party that ran Syria for more than 60 years until Assad's ouster by Islamist-led rebels earlier this month.

The town's main street has been heavily damaged by the passage of a column of Israeli tanks.

The street furniture has been reduced to mangled metal, and broken off branches from roadside trees litter the highway.

"Look at all the destruction the Israeli tanks have caused to our streets and road signs," said 51-year-old doctor Arsan Arsan.

"People around here are very angry about the Israeli incursion. We are for peace, but on condition that Israel pulls back to the armistice line."

- Ready for 'prolonged presence' -

Israel announced on December 8 that its troops were crossing the armistice line and were occupying the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone that has separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the strategic Golan Heights since 1974.

The announcement, which was swiftly condemned by the United Nations, came the same day that the rebels entered Damascus.

Israel said it was a defensive measure prompted by the security vacuum created by the Assad government's abrupt collapse.

Israeli troops swiftly occupied much of the buffer zone, including the summit of Syria's highest peak, Mount Hermon.

The Israeli military has since confirmed that its troops have also been operating beyond the buffer zone in other parts of southwest Syria.

At a security briefing on Mount Hermon on Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz spoke of the importance of "completing preparations... for the possibility of a prolonged presence" in the buffer zone.

He added that the 2,814-metre (9,232-foot) peak provided "observation and deterrence" against both Hezbollah in Lebanon and the new authorities in Damascus who "claim to present a moderate front but are affiliated with the most extreme Islamist factions".

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that led the rebel overthrow of Assad, has its roots in Al-Qaeda and remains proscribed as a terrorist organization by several Western governments, even though it has sought to moderate its image in recent years.

- Israeli flags -

On the road south from Damascus to the provincial capital Quneitra, an AFP correspondent saw no sign of the transitional government or its fighters. All of the checkpoints that had controlled access to the province for decades lay abandoned.

Quneitra's streets too were largely deserted as residents stayed indoors, peeking out only occasionally at passing Israeli patrols.

Israeli soldiers have raised the Star of David on several hilltops overlooking the town.

HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has said that Israel's crossing of the armistice line on the Golan "threatens a new unjustified escalation in the region".

But he added in a statement late last week that "the general exhaustion in Syria after years of war and conflict does not allow us to enter new conflicts".

That position has left many in the south feeling abandoned to fend for themselves.

"We are just 400 meters from the Israeli tanks... the children are scared by the incursion," said Yassin al-Ali, who lives on the edge of the village of Al-Hamidiyah, not far from Baath City.

He said that instead of celebrating their victory in Damascus, the transitional government and its fighters should come to the aid of Quneitra province.

"What's happening here really should make those celebrating in Umayyad Square pause for a moment... and come here to support us in the face of the Israeli occupation," Ali said.