DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – Israeli forces escalated military aggression across southern Syria on Sunday, shelling multiple locations in Quneitra and Daraa as the country’s new HTS-led regime grapples with internal unrest and sectarian tensions.
According to Syrian media, Israeli forces shelled areas west of the village of al-Mashala in the northern Quneitra countryside with artillery, killing a number of sheep. 
The Syrian Television reported that the bombardment extended to Quneitra, Daraa, and the western countryside of Damascus, with heavy artillery targeting Tal Bat al-Warda on the outskirts of Beit Jen. 
The Syrian Center for Human Rights confirmed Israeli forces shelled the vicinity of Samdaniyah al-Gharbiyah in central Quneitra. On Saturday, six shells were fired at the outskirts of al-Rafid in southern Quneitra.
The escalation follows increased Israeli ground incursions into border areas since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024, when Israel declared the 1974 disengagement agreement void and seized control of the Syrian buffer zone. Israeli forces have conducted repeated raids, searches and arrests in southern Syria.
Meanwhile, Syria’s new rulers face internal challenges. Bitter clashes erupted Friday between HTS forces and Druze fighters in Suweida province, marking the most serious escalation in months. 
Heavy machine-gun fire was exchanged between fighters affiliated with the so-called National Guard, associated with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, and HTS militants near Rimat Hazem village northwest of Suweida city. 
An explosive-laden drone operated by HTS forces targeted a Druze military installation. The violence follows the July 13 confrontations in which estimates of deaths ranged from 814 to 1,653.
On Friday, Druze groups forced prominent local figure Atef Hunaidi to leave Suweida after he condemned al-Hijri’s recent statement that his community was “an integral part of Israel”. 
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, has sought to rebrand his group, insisting in a recent interview with Sky News that “the country isn’t ready for another war” and that the West has “no reason to fear” Syria following Assad’s ouster. However, his group remains designated a terrorist organization by the UN and Western nations.