By Kavita Mistry 
Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israeli forces on Wednesday (September 17, 2025) of forcibly displacing residents of southern Syria, which Israel has demanded be demilitarised in a new security deal Syria is seeking with its neighbour.
The statement quoted the Israeli military as saying it is operating in southern Syria “to protect the citizens of the State of Israel” and that its activities are “in accordance with international law”.
The report came as Syrian state media said Israeli forces seized several people in the south, and a day after Damascus said it was working with Washington to reach mutual “security understandings” with Israel.
“Israeli forces occupying parts of southern Syria since December 2024 have carried out a range of abuses against residents, including forced displacement, which is a war crime,” the HRW said in a statement.
As Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar Assad on December 8, Israel deployed troops to a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights that has separated the countries’ forces since an armistice that followed the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
Israel has also launched hundreds of air strikes on targets in Syria and carried out incursions deeper into the south despite opening talks with the interim authorities.
HRW said that “Israeli forces have seized and demolished homes, blocked residents from their property and livelihoods, and arbitrarily detained residents and transferred them to Israel”.
The New York-based watchdog said it interviewed residents, reviewed images and analysed satellite imagery to corroborate accounts.
Early Wednesday (September 17, 2025), Syrian state television said Israeli forces seized four men from villages in and near the buffer zone in the southern province of Quneitra “during a raid and search operation… that targeted a number of homes”.
Earlier this month, state media said Israeli forces seized seven people in the same area, with the Israeli army saying it apprehended individuals “suspected of terrorist activity” and took them to Israel for further questioning.
On Tuesday (September 16, 2025), Syria announced a U.S.- and Jordan-backed roadmap for restoring stability in the south after deadly sectarian violence in the Druze minority heartland of Sweida prompted Israeli military intervention in July.
A Syrian military official told AFP that heavy weapons had been withdrawn from the south in a process that began after the Sweida violence.