Syrians March in Damascus and Homs After Fatal Strike and Southern Incursion

Syrian crowds gathered in the capital and central provinces on Friday to protest ongoing military operations in the south. The demonstrations followed a deadly incident earlier in the week that left one man with a disability dead. State media reported that residents in Damascus and Homs denounced attacks in the southern provinces of Quneitra and Daraa. An AFP correspondent in Daraa counted hundreds of attendees, some waving national flags.

Protester Taysir al-Hariri told the agency that the crowds aimed to show global unity against foreign interference. He stated the goal was to send a message that Syria stands together against incursions and threats to national security. Footage from state television showed marchers holding posters with the slogan We are all Moaz. The phrase referenced the man with special needs whom Syrian authorities said was killed by Israeli fire during a recent operation in Daraa province.

Outside a United Nations building in Damascus, the family of a detained Syrian man also joined the demonstrations. Children in the group held signs that read I want my dad. State media confirmed that Israeli forces had advanced into parts of Quneitra province on Friday. Soldiers blocked several roads, bulldozed olive groves, and established checkpoints where they detained local residents.

Israeli forces have conducted hundreds of strikes in Syria since the new government took power in December 2024. That transition followed the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. Military units also entered the UN-patrolled buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights since 1974. Israel has pledged to maintain troops in a designated security zone in the south while seeking a larger demilitarized area.