Detentions include two children transferred to Israel
The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria reported to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday that Israeli military activity in southern Syria “may amount to war crimes,” citing documented detentions of civilians — including two children — and the construction of a network of checkpoints and military infrastructure since the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime in December 2024.
The update comes as Syria approaches the second anniversary of Assad’s ouster and as the country’s transitional authorities work to build rights-respecting institutions amid ongoing Israeli military operations and unresolved accountability questions.
The commission’s update described Israeli activity in southern Syria as “increasingly sustained and entrenched,” with ground incursions, patrols, raids and house searches displacing some residents. Commissioner Fionnuala Ní Aoláin said the commission is “deeply alarmed by violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by Israel on Syrian territory.”
Following visits to Quneitra and Dara’a governorates in southwestern Syria, the commission documented the establishment of temporary checkpoints and fixed military infrastructure in territory Israel describes as a “security belt.” The commission identified 49 individuals, including two children, detained by Israel on Syrian territory. Some of those detained were transferred to Israel, where they “reportedly remain detained incommunicado,” the commission said, and it expressed “grave concerns about the risk of torture and ill-treatment.”
Israel responded by accusing the commission of an “Israel-bashing session,” according to Asharq Al-Awsat, a London-based Arabic international daily. Israel said it “maintains a temporary buffer zone amounting to 0.1% of Syria to protect its citizens from proven security threat,” the publication reported.
The commission is also investigating reports of “extensive ecological damage to forests, agricultural livelihoods and property” caused by Israeli military operations, including allegations of aerial herbicide spraying. The commission said it “concurred with the Secretary-General that violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are unacceptable and must cease,” and warned that Israel’s “belligerent occupation” has expanded further into Syrian territory.
As Syria approaches the second anniversary of Assad’s ouster, the commission commended the new government and its people for their “significant achievements” while noting the challenges of building rights-respecting institutions, addressing past atrocities and ensuring they are not repeated.
Commissioner Monia Ammar said “comprehensively addressing not only past, but also recent violence, is an essential step for reconciliation.” She cited the March 2025 violence on the coast and western Syria, as well as the January hostilities with the Syrian Democratic Forces, with “many hundreds of people are still reported missing.”
The commission warned against selective justice that “could renew grievances and undermine reconciliation,” noting ongoing challenges including those resulting from Israeli military activity, insufficient accountability, a fragile civic space, continued instability in the Druze-dominated city of Suwayda in southern Syria, and ongoing detention in the northeast.
The commission reiterated calls for the immediate closure of Al-Roj camp, a detention center in northeastern Syria where more than 2,000 people, mostly women and children allegedly related to ISIS, are still held, and for the repatriation of foreign nationals. The commission also expressed “profound concern” over what it described as the “mass forcible transfer” to Iraq earlier this year by U.S. forces of more than 5,700 men and boys, reportedly from more than 60 nationalities, including Syrians.