Relatives of dozens of Syrians detained in the southwestern province of Quneitra by Israeli forces held a protest on Sunday outside the foreign ministry building in Damascus, demanding the government make efforts to secure the release of their loved ones.
The families from Quneitra province held up banners calling for the disclosure of the fate of their relatives and their immediate release, amid a lack of official information regarding their detention conditions and welfare.
Since the regime of former dictator Bashar al-Assad fell in December 2024, Israel has seized territory in Quneitra province beyond the Golan Heights, which it occupied in 1967 and made regular incursions into Syrian territory near the occupied Golan Heights, setting up checkpoints and detaining people.
There are an estimated 46 Syrians detained by Israel, with reports based on information from released detainees that some are being held in the Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, while at least one Syrian was reported to confined at the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility , where Israeli forces have raped and tortured Palestinian detainees. Attending the protest was Umm Marwan whose son was abducted about five months ago while working as a shepherd near the demilitarised zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and the rest of Syria.
Umm Marwan added that he did not belong to any political or military group and did not engage in any activity justifying his detention. She said that the family had received no information on his fate while calling on President Ahmad al-Sharaa to "work on the issue of those abducted by [Israeli] occupation forces, as he did with detainees in Lebanon , Iraq, Libya, and the UAE".
The families called on the Syrian government to make sure that the issue of the detainees is included in negotiations with the Israeli side and make the issue "fundamental and non-negotiable".
Under US mediation, Syria and Israel have been involved in negotiations for a security deal , but these have stalled amid an Israeli refusal to withdraw from territory occupied since December 2024, and Israeli demands to demilitarise the whole of Syria south of Damascus.
Ahmed al-Mousa, a lawyer from Quneitra province, told The New Arab that intensified diplomatic and legal action is required on behalf of the detainees.
He said that the case of Syrians detained by Israel must be raised in international forums, while pressure is applied for their immediate release, and called on the Syrian foreign ministry should set up a dedicated task force to follow up on the issue.
The families also called for their case to be adopted by Syrian and international media outlets to keep it present in public awareness and on the international agenda, in order to increase pressure on Israeli authorities to reveal the fate of the detainees.