While international focus has been on Aleppo and north-east Syria, Israeli forces continued operations and patrols across south-west Syria. These operations accelerated in December 2025, with Israeli forces launching daily ground operations and surveillance flights across Daraa and Quneitra provinces, in addition to intermittent artillery barrages along the border strip. Still, the past month has largely seen a period of continuity and relative stability, as interim security forces have adapted to the Israeli presence in the south-west and remained circumspect of Tel Aviv’s strategic red lines to avoid direct confrontations. The threat of Israeli airstrikes will likely keep frontlines in Suwayda frozen for the foreseeable future, and while localized conflicts are inevitable, Druze factions will avoid risking any moves to regain lost territory from pro-government forces. With the surprise offensive in the north-east and questions about the durability of the ceasefire with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) now at the forefront of interim authorities’ strategic calculations, Damascus is treading carefully in the south-west.
Israeli Operations
Security dynamics in south-west Syria continue to be dominated by ongoing Israeli military activity across Daraa and Quneitra, as regular raids and patrols have been accompanied by near-constant aerial drone surveillance over areas adjacent to the border strip. Raids and searches of farms were reported in south-west Daraa as well as multiple locations across Quneitra. At least 20 individuals were detained in these operations, including two minors who were released within an hour of their arrests.
Farmers have repeatedly been barred from reaching agricultural lands west of Jamleh, Kudnah, Al-Ma’ariyeh and Al-Rafid by Israeli troops, while shepherds were targeted with warning fire near the border strip near Bir Ajam. Additionally, on 27th January, Israeli paragliders sprayed pesticide over farmlands west of Al-Rafid and Saida al-Jolan for several consecutive days, aimed at suppressing vegetation growth used for cattle grazing.
The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDF) has maintained regular patrols across northern and central Quneitra, repeatedly reaching the towns of Jubata al-Khashab, Kudnah and Ufaniyeh. Beyond Quneitra, UNDOF patrols also entered Al-Sanamayn in northern Daraa in late December 2025 for the first time.
Security Developments
Internal Security forces conducted raids on more than a dozen homes in western Daraa on 4th January, arresting six individuals on charges of narcotics smuggling. The fall of the Assad regime and loss of institutional support for the Captagon trade has radically transformed the sector in recent months, with smugglers striving to adapt through a combination of balloon deliveries and shifting production to more discreet factories. As a result, the price of Captagon continues to spike, reaching a new all-time high in the past month. The future of smuggling networks is an open question, however, and will hinge largely on the availability of funding for anti-trafficking measures and training of specialized personnel.
Interim security forces additionally conducted almost daily sweeping raids targeting urban and rural locales across south-west Syria, detaining 19 individuals in Daraa city, Deir al-Adas, Al-Hirak, Kafr al-Shams, Al-Karak, Nawa, Nassib, Qarfa and Sheikh Miskeen in Daraa; Darayya in Rural Damascus; and several rural locations in Homs province. Among those arrested were alleged former regime-era security commanders accused of involvement in atrocities, Hezbollah affiliates and criminals involved in kidnapping operations. Additionally, Syria’s Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of Ali Adib Suleiman, former head of Military Intelligence’s Branch 220, which was responsible for Quneitra province under the Assad regime. He was arrested in Tartous.
Local de-mining activities have progressed steadily, particularly along roads in the northern and western Daraa countryside, although unexploded ordinances continue to injure civilians on a weekly basis. At least four people were seriously wounded by mine blasts across Daraa province in January, two of them children.
Instability in South-West Syria
Despite ongoing instability and security challenges posed by criminal networks in south-west Syria, assassinations have dropped off precipitously in recent months. Over the course of January, just four targeted killings were registered, among them civilians and security personnel—less than a third of the number of targeted assassinations witnessed in the previous reporting period. It remains unclear at present if this drop represents a momentary lull or a broader shift from widespread extra-judicial killings in the region. A sustained push by security forces to target organized kidnapping networks and improve security conditions across south Syria has continued in recent weeks. Following the kidnapping of a prominent local smuggler along the Damascus–Daraa highway, Internal Security raided a facility on the outskirts of Izra’a, leading to the capture of several ringleaders of the kidnapping operation.
Meanwhile, complex clan and family conflicts have continued to be a source of instability across southern Syria, with land disputes in Al-Lajat repeatedly drawing in dozens of security forces to maintain the peace among rival groups. Telecommunications were briefly cut off across all areas of south-west Syria in early January after the main communications line supplying southern Syria was targeted by thieves, drawing anger from many residents on social media.
