On Sunday, October 26, 2025, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the arbitrary detention of civilian Izz al-Din al-Munif, a resident of the village of Abu Tina in the southern Quneitra Governorate countryside, by Israeli occupation forces during a ground incursion supported by military vehicles into the village of Buraiqa in the Quneitra Governorate countryside.
According to information obtained by the SNHR from reliable local sources, the Israeli occupation forces detained him while passing through a temporary checkpoint established by Israeli occupation forces in the village of Buraiqa and forcibly transferred him to an unknown location. SNHR documented his release several hours later, but without any clear legal procedures, which constitutes arbitrary detention prohibited under international human rights law.
Legal Conclusions:
- The detention of a civilian without a judicial warrant, a clear security imperative, or charges, and without respect for fair trial guarantees, constitutes arbitrary detention under Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits deprivation of liberty without legal basis.
- According to Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (Article 75), all detained persons must be treated humanely, with respect for their legal rights. This requirement was not respected in this incident, neither in terms of the legal basis for detention, nor in terms of its duration or location.
- The Israeli military incursion and detention operations within Syrian territory constitute a flagrant violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity of any member state, and constitutes an act of aggression contrary to the rules of general international law.
- Repeated incursions and occupation of military barracks inside Syria, as well as security operations and detentions, are practices that perpetuate an unrecognized occupation and may pave the way for demographic change or the imposition of a de facto military authority, threatening broader grave violations.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights strongly condemns the Israeli ground incursion, raids, and arbitrary detention of civilians, and stresses that these practices constitute a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In this context, the Syrian Network for Human Rights recommends the following:
- Clear international condemnation of the illegal detention by the Israeli occupation forces, considering it a violation of the Geneva Conventions and the UN Charter, requiring legal accountability.
- Calling on the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council to investigate the incident, through mechanisms such as the International Independent Mechanism (IIIM), and documenting it within the pattern of Israeli violations in southern Syria.
- Demanding that Israel disclose details of the detention process, provide public legal justifications, and compensate the detained civilians for the violations they suffered, including material and moral damage.
- Deploying international monitoring forces or expanding the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) to include monitoring cases of detention and violations against civilians in the Syrian border areas.
- Activating international criminal accountability tools, especially the International Criminal Court (ICC), to consider classifying these practices as war crimes related to unlawful detention in occupied or disputed territories.
- Improving the protection of civilians in conflict zones by establishing local early warning networks and documenting unauthorized foreign troop movements, in cooperation with civil society organizations and local human rights activists.
