Kuneitra, Syria – Ibrahim al-Dakheel, 55, watched in dismay as an Israeli bulldozer demolished his 40-year-old home, saying it was necessary to protect the border.
“It was 6:30am when I heard the explosion,” he told Al Jazeera, pointing to where the Syrian army stood near his destroyed home.
He and his family live in al-Rafid, a village in the Quneitra district.
Al-Dakheel used to sit in front of his courtyard, enjoying the green gardens and the nearby running fountain. He said that nothing pleased him more.
But now, he and his family are taking refuge in his parents' house in the village as they continue to see the Israeli army advancing.
“I saw them marching through the village – trucks and tanks arrived at the town hall along with bulldozers,” he said.
On December 8, Israel launched a military campaign targeting the entire Syrian territory and advancing to Quneitra under the pretense of seeking arms and allies with the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran.
Israeli forces set up checkpoints, uprooted trees, and destroyed the village's only military base, which al-Dakheel said was a small house with a few police officers.
Israeli forces have also fired live bombs, tear gas and live ammunition at protesters unhappy with their occupation of Syria.
The latest incident took place on Wednesday when Israeli soldiers opened fire in protest against their destruction of several houses in two villages of Quneitra, injuring three people.
The Israeli attack comes after Syria's former president, Bashar al-Assad, was toppled by rebel fighters in December.
A few days later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel's presence in Syria would be “temporary”, but later clarified that Israel would remain in Syria illegally until a new security arrangement was implemented by the new Syrian regime.
New migration
Maysoun al-Faouri, 47, did not expect to be evicted from her home when Israeli soldiers entered her village.
During the 13 years of the Syrian civil war, which began as popular uprisings against al-Assad that he brutally suppressed, al-Faouri, her six children and her husband – who died two months ago of unknown causes – were taken from the hands of al- Faouri. -Hajar al-Aswad, an area near Damascus.
They moved to Madinat al-Baath, the Quneitra area where the Israeli army is now a kilometer (0.6 miles) away.
Al-Faouri does not fully believe Israel's claim that their presence is temporary and is worried that Israeli soldiers could be in his house for seconds.
“I told my children: 'If you want to run away, you can, but I don't care if I die.' I don't even have the money to leave. We are all tired, poor and have lost everything,'” al-Faouri, a nurse, told Al Jazeera.
He added: “Even the soldiers don't know how long they will be here.
Some people, al-Faouri said, would prefer to live in Israeli-occupied villages because they have no money to leave.
Job history and fear
Quneitra lives in the Golan Heights, a part of Syria that Israel captured and occupied in the 1967 war.
After Israel withdrew in 1974 from most of the territories it occupied – while illegally retaining some of the Golan Heights – and the declaration of a demilitarized zone under UN supervision, the area was neglected.
Today, many people are skeptical even though they express hope that the country will recover from the war.
But Israel's expansion and long-term presence in Syrian territory is already undermining some people's hopes, according to 28-year-old lawyer Mohammad al-Fayyad.
“There is fear, and lack of water, electricity, and food (in Quneitra villages). Schools are closed, unlike other districts.
“People who fled to Damascus after the Israeli army advanced found no shelter and no help,” al-Fayyad said.
Those who choose to remain fear Israeli violence, especially if they are opposed to invading the country.
Many Syrians, like al-Fayyad, are worried that Israel will find a new reason to occupy large parts of Syria in the name of “security”.
“We celebrate the victory and fall of al-Assad, but the occupation has arrived, creating fear and destroying happiness,” said al-Fayyad sadly.
“We are in a new phase… liberation. We should celebrate like the rest of the world. “