The place is Beit Jinn, in the countryside to the west ofDamascus. Its the night of November 28, 2025. Israeli soldiers launch a ground offensive. While bombs fall from the sky and artillery is fired at homes,clashesbreak out between Israeli soldiers and some villagers. A videoposted online by the Israeli armyshows soldiers arresting brothers Nidal Akasha Akasha and Muhammad Akasha Akasha in the fray. In a statement,the Israeli armyclaims that Nidal and Muhammad have ties to the Islamist group Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya.

The FRANCE 24 Observers team interviewed a number of Syrians who had been arrested and then detained in an Israeli prison for months before being released. We also spoke to the families of those still detained. We also analysed rare images posted online by the Israeli army, which claims that they have been arresting suspicious persons or those linked to armed groups. Through our research, we identified three different arrest operations carried out by the Israeli army in 2025.

A total of13 villagers died, and more than 25 were woundedin the attack on Beit Jinn, according to medical sources. For its part, the Israeli army claims to have "eliminated several terrorists". Six Israeli soldiers were wounded, three seriously.

This is a screenshot taken from a video shared by the Israeli army showing the arrest of two brothers, Nidal Akasha Akasha and Muhammad Akasha Akasha, on November 28, 2025, in the Syrian village of Beit Jinn, located in the countryside to the west of Damascus. The Israeli army said these two men had links with the Islamist group Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya.

My father has no links to an armed group

Alia (not her real name) is the daughter of one of the men arrested during the raid on November 28, 2025. She told us her version of events:

It is not possible for our team to independently verify that the two men who were arrested dont have any links to armed groups. According to the Israeli army, their brother was part of the group Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya. He waskilled during a drone strike,likely carried out by Israel, onSeptember 21, 2023, in Beit Jinn. Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya is aSunniIslamist organisation with close links to theMuslim Brotherhood. The group, mainly based inLebanon, blends political, religious and social activities, supports the Palestinian cause and has intermittent links withHamas.Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, for its part, deniesany link to the activities carried out in Beit Jinn.

The Israeli army did not respond when we asked what charges the brothers were facing. They did not respond to our questions about the charges faced by any person mentioned in this article.

This image was taken from a video posted online by the Israeli army showing the arrest of Nidal Akasha Akasha the night of November 28, 2025, in Beit Jinn, a village located in the countryside to the west of Damascus.

Since the beginning of its operations inSyriain December 2024,Israel has maintained that it is arresting peoplewith links to armed groups.

When we spoke to other families across southern Syria, they described similar scenes to Beit Jinn: arrests carried out in the middle of the night, homes raided and family members threatened or immobilised. And, according to family members and other witnesses, the arrest of people who were not taking part in activities hostile toIsrael.

At left, Hiyam, who lives in Ghadir al-Bustan in southern Syria, shows her right arm, which she said was bitten by a dog when Israeli soldiers raided her home. The image at right is a photo taken by the UN mission that went to her home the next day and documented the events.

The dogs attacked me

Israeli soldiers raided the home of a woman named Hiyam on February 16 in the village of Ghadir al-Bustan. Hiyam said she was attacked by the soldiers dogs and her two sons werearrested:

Our team spoke to a spokesperson for the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (FNUOD), the force tasked with maintaining theceasefirebetween Israel and Syria in theGolan Heightsbuffer zone since 1973. She said that when she was alerted by locals, she went to the village "to meet the mukhtar (village leader) and the residents of the home [that had been raided]. She added that they provided first aid to the residents of the home, who had injuries on their arms and faces.

The Israeli army has published photos and videos ofpolice dogs accompanying soldiersduring a number ofraids carried out in Syria.

The image at left shows a police dog during a raid carried out in September 2025 in southern Syria, according to the Israeli army. The image at right shows a police dog accompanying Israeli soldiers during a raid carried out in southern Syria in July 2025, according to the Israeli army.

The Israeli army installs 10 bases

The Israeli armys operations are taking place against a specific security backdrop. After thefall of longtime Syrian president Bashar al-Assads regimein December 2024,Israel announced the collapse of the 1974 disengagement agreement,which established the buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria. Since then, the Israeli army hasdeployed troops in the buffer zoneand made an increasing number of incursions into Syrian territory, setting up at least 10 military bases six in the buffer zone and four on Syrian soil.

The Israeli army has established at least 10 military bases in Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assads regime in December 2024. The largest of the bases is in Jubata Al-Khashab.

We spoke to six men who were arrested and detained by the Israeli army. They said they were initially held in one of the new Israeli military bases built on Syrian soil in the villages of Jubata Al-Khashab, Tel Ahmar or Sirriyeh al-Jazira. Some were held for just a few hours before being released, while others were held for days. Some of them were transferred to Israeliprisonsbefore being released.

The prison central to many of the accounts

We also spoke to seven people who live in the region. One of them, who hails from Kodna, a village near Quneitra, said that he has been arrested three times by the Israeli army, most recently in late April 2026, when he was held for 24 hours. The six others all said that they were taken to Sde Teiman, a prison in the Negev desert in southern Israel, and held there for periods ranging from two to six months. In July 2024, footage circulated showing Palestinian prisoners being mistreated in Sde Teiman, which is located on an Israeli military base nearly 200 kilometres from the Syrian border. Based on our interviews, there are at least 35 Syrians currently being held in this centre.

Abu Kinan al-Sayed, a former detainee, told us his story:

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told our team that "any harm to detainees, whether during their arrest or interrogation, constitutes a violation of the law and IDF regulations and is therefore strictly prohibited".

FNUOD reported that locals regularly contact them about these nighttime operations and arrests, though theUNhas not directly observed one take place.

Increasing numbers of arrests and accusations of torture

Lawyer Ahmad al-Moussa, who is based in Germany and working on behalf of a number of these families, says that the number of Syrians detained in Israel has drastically increased since December 2024.

According to the Sijil Centre, a group that works to document the Israeli armys activities in Syria,at least 197people have been arrested in less than a year and a half. While most were released after a few days, the centre reported that 43 people are still being held in Israeli prisons, most often in Ofer, Nafha or Sde Teiman.

When questioned by the FRANCE 24 Observers team, the Israeli army responded: The Israel Defence Forces have apprehended individuals where there was reasonable suspicion of their involvement in terrorist activity against the State of Israel, including activity carried out by Iran and terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas operating in Syria. In appropriate cases, continued detention is carried out for preventive security purposes, in accordance with Israeli law and the applicable rules of international law."

Minors amongst the detained

Saddam was arrested on April 25, 2024, when he was just 17 years old. Hassan Ahmad is his father:

At left is Saddams identity card, which says he was born in 2007, meaning that he was a minor when he was arrested. At right is a permit for Saddam to enter into the buffer zone in the Golan Heights, where he was arrested on April 25, 2024. Saddams father provided us with these documents.

This is a screengrab taken from a video shared with us by Saddams father. The video, filmed by friends, shows when the Israeli army arrested Saddam on April 25, 2024. Saddam was blindfolded with a white bandage.

Siraj, a group of Syrian investigative journalists, publishedan investigationin August 2025 that mentions Saddams arrest and identifies where the video was filmed.

An ill man detained

According to theIsraeli army,forces from the "Alexandroni" brigade, led by the 210th division, carried out a night raid on June 12, 2025, to arrest members of Hamas who were active in the region of Beit Jinn in Syria.

Mohammed Hamada was one of the people arrested during this operation. We contacted his wife, who said that her husband is a farmer who underwent back surgery on November 16, 2024, at the Damascus University Hospital. She showed us a medical report indicating that he was experiencing serious health problems and that the operation led to partial paralysis. She says that a humanitarian organisation in the West Bank informed her several days ago that her husband is being held in Nafha Prison in Jerusalem. She is worried that his health will deteriorate in detention.

At left is an image of the detainee after his operation. At right is a photo of the medical report documenting his poor state of health.

They want to make us leave, but it is our land

The arrests seem to fall into two main categories: either people are being arrested during violent raids on their homes, often at night, or farmers are being arrested when they are near the ceasefire line. In some cases, civilians were targeted by gunfire.

A resident of Quneitra, who has been arrested three times, told their story:

This article has been translated fromthe original in Frenchby Brenna Daldorph.

Originally published on France24