Visitors to towns in Syria's Quneitra governorate today notice a near-complete silence in the streets, with locals comparing it to a “curfew.” This is due to Israel occupying some villages and advancing into others.
Arriving at the outskirts of Khan Arnabah from the “Al-Salam Highway,” it's striking to see the entrance nearly empty of both people and cars.
The same scene is visible at the town's main roundabout, where four major roads branch out, leading to other towns and villages. Business activity along the roadside shops remains low.
At a corner, several taxi drivers wait for passengers, but with no success, prompting some to leave.
While some speculate that the quiet is due to Friday being a public holiday, a taxi driver insists that this situation persists throughout the week, with only slight improvements on regular days.
“The situation is very bad. There’s no work. It feels like a curfew here,” said a man, identifying himself as “Abu Mohammed,” to Asharq Al-Awsat.
With a deep sense of despair, he explained that the cause of this situation is Israel’s occupation of towns and villages in the province and its growing incursions into others, following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8th.
“Last Wednesday at midnight, fear gripped the residents of Khan Arnabah due to loud explosions. It turned out they were caused by Israeli soldiers blowing up munitions and weapons at munition depot... at the entrance to the village of al-Jobeh.” Abu Mohammed added.
Two weeks ago, they stormed other military bases at the entrance to the village of Al-Samdaniah Al-Sharqiya, which lies to the west of Khan Arnabah. Their vehicles and soldiers also reached the roundabout.
Another taxi driver points out that Israeli soldiers have occupied the “government complex” in Al-Salam city, about 3 km west of Khan Arnabah, which houses several government departments.
“The complex is disabled because they've set up a large earthen barrier to prevent locals and employees from reaching it. It’s now a center for their tanks and vehicles. They also raided the city’s bakery, forcing residents away under the pretext of searching for weapons, as well as the cultural center and the telephone administration,” they added.
“The occupying soldiers terrorize the locals during their raids on towns and villages, imposing curfews and threatening to target anyone who steps outside,” the driver confirmed.
Among the villages Israel has occupied since the fall of Assad’s regime is Al-Hurriyaا, which falls under the administrative jurisdiction of Khan Arnabah, located 5 km to the west.
