DAMASCUS (Dispatches) -- A United Nations commission delivered a stark warning to the Human Rights Council on Tuesday, stating that ongoing Israeli military actions inside Syrian territory, including the detention of civilians, may constitute war crimes. 
The announcement came as a damning portrait emerged of the ruling Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) administration’s track record, marked by a “suspicious silence” regarding Israeli violations and a controversial pursuit of international normalization that critics say has done nothing to alleviate the deepening suffering of the Syrian people .
Presenting the commission’s findings, Commissioner Fionnuala Ní Aoláin expressed deep alarm over Israel’s “increasingly sustained and entrenched” military activities in southern Syria. 
The commission documented that Israeli forces have established temporary checkpoints and fixed infrastructure within the southern provinces, with the presence described as a “belligerent occupation”. 
As of June, the commission identified 49 Syrians, including two children, who were kidnapped by the Israeli military on Syrian territory and believed transferred across the border. 
Ní Aoláin warned the acts “may amount to war crimes,” noting some detainees are held incommunicado, raising fears of torture. Syria’s representative at the UN session welcomed the findings while condemning the Israeli violations of international law.
The UN rebuke unfolded against the backdrop of a year-and-a-half-long campaign by HTS leader Abu Muhammad al-Jolani to transform his image from a designated terrorist to a legitimate statesman. 
Since seizing Damascus in December 2024, Jolani—now operating as Ahmed al-Sharaa—has spearheaded a diplomatic offensive, securing meetings with Western foreign ministers, a presidential summit with Donald Trump, and an address to the UN General Assembly. 
The U.S. and EU lifted terrorist designations on HTS, however, this drive for international acceptance has been defined by a conspicuous passivity regarding Israeli aggression. 
Reports indicate that since the collapse of the Assad government, Israeli forces have conducted hundreds of airstrikes and numerous ground incursions, yet the HTS administration has remained largely silent. 
This “suspicious silence” has persisted even as Israeli troops have advanced into villages like Bareeqa in the Quneitra suburbs, conducting raids and searches.
For many observers, the Jolani administration’s pursuit of normalization has actively compounded the misery of Syrians. The diplomatic overtures, including reported openness to an Israeli liaison office, have been met with intensified Israeli military atrocities.