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3. Syria Says Israeli Tank Fire Kills Man in Country's South

Syrian state media said Israeli fire killed a man in the Qunietra province in the country's south near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

State news agency SANA said that the man was killed in an attack by "an Israeli tank", while state television said a car was targeted.

Earlier, SANA reported that Israeli forces in Quneitra province had closed several roads "leading to new military positions that they have established in the area", restricting the movement of local residents and farmers.

It also said several Israeli vehicles had set up a temporary checkpoint in a village where they searched passersby.

After the December 2024 overthrow of Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.

Israel has also carried out repeated incursions into Syrian territory since then, as well as bombings, and has said it wants a demilitarised zone in the country's south.

State media regularly reports Israeli incursions and sometimes the detention of individuals in southern Syria.

Last month, Israel's military said it had struck Syrian army camps in response to what it called attacks against the Druze community in the southern Sweida province, with the Syrian foreign ministry calling it "an outrageous assault".

The Israeli strikes came as war roils the Middle East after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

Israel captured most of the plateau from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed the areas under its control, in a move not recognised by most of the international community.

Israel and Syria's new authorities have held several rounds of direct talks and have agreed to establish an intelligence-sharing mechanism as they edge towards a security agreement.

AFP