Helpless and increasingly frustrated, the families of Syrians kidnapped by Israeli forces are demanding the release of their loved ones, a year and a half since Israeli troops stormed the country’s southwest.
A delegation of families visited a UN post in the Nabaa al-Fawar area of Quneitra governorate earlier this week to demand the release of their relatives and information about their fate.
The visit came days after the families staged a protest outside the UN building in Damascus, where they called for the immediate disclosure of their relatives' whereabouts and release.
They urged international organisations to take responsibility for addressing cases of forced disappearances carried out by Israel in southern Syria.
Participants at the demonstration on 27 May said the number of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons held by Israeli forces has reached 47 people from the governorates of Quneitra, Daraa and Rif Damascus, including teachers, students and farmers.
According to Sijil, a Syrian monitoring centre that documents Israeli military operations in Syria, particularly in the country's south, at least 197 people have been abducted by Israeli forces since 8 December 2024, the day Bashar al-Assad's regime fell. Forty-five remained in detention when the group's latest report was compiled last month.
The centre also documented the killing of 36 Syrian civilians during Israeli military operations over the same period.
Immediately after Assad's fall, Israeli forces crossed the UN-monitored buffer zone for the first time since the 1970s and advanced into parts of Quneitra , citing security concerns. Israel also launched massive strikes across Syria and captured the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, placing its troops within close proximity of Damascus.
Syria's new government has repeatedly said it does not seek conflict with Israel and poses no threat to it. However, direct negotiations between the two countries have so far failed to produce tangible results. Families left without answers Southern Syria-based correspondent Nour Abu Hassan told The New Arab that the UN's role remains limited to documentation and monitoring, with no ability to stop Israeli incursions or prevent arrests.
"There is continuous communication between local residents and the UN, especially families who have detainees. On the first day of Eid, families went to meet the UN commander to ask about their detained ones, mainly to know their fate and establish any form of contact, but the response was negative," he told TNA .
He said the UN only documents arrests when they occur and does not intervene further.
"Because the detainees are still under investigation and are not granted the rights of prisoners, even obtaining information about them or checking on their condition is impossible, so the answer is always negative," he added.
The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) was established in 1974 following the Arab-Israeli War the previous year to monitor the ceasefire and disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria in the occupied Golan Heights .
Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, a move recognised only by the United States. Following Assad's fall, Israel declared the disengagement agreement void and moved troops into the UNDOF buffer zone. 'Abandoned' Residents in Quneitra say they have largely been left to deal with ongoing Israeli incursions and the issue of detainees on their own, amid a lack of organised support structures and little information about those being held.
Quneitra-based activist Jomana Hasan told TNA that there is currently no coordinated movement or institutional framework focused on the detainees' issue.
"There is no organised structure in the area – no bodies, no coordinated groups, no associations," she said. "Even we, as activists, are falling short. The situation regarding the detainees is unclear."
She said efforts remain largely local and are driven by residents and families in Quneitra, who live near the frontier and regularly witness Israeli military activity.
"The people of the area are in direct contact with the [Israeli] occupation forces in the sense that they see the incursions into their lands every day," she said.
"Public mobilisation only happens when something major occurs, such as the [December 2025] strike on Beit Jinn that killed around 13 civilians. Other than that, there is no organised or continuous action."
According to Hasan, responsibility for addressing the detainees' file ultimately lies with the Syrian state.
"The responsibility for protecting civilians and the land naturally lies with the state, and it is the party that must take action regarding the detainees," she said. "I believe this issue is raised in the negotiations [with Israel], but so far we have no answers."
She described an atmosphere of fear in Quneitra, where residents continue to face arrests, military incursions and damage to property.
"Residents are left on their own facing the Israeli aggression, and this is frightening," she said. "There is constant fear because the violations have not stopped. These incursions come with material and human losses – whether through arrests, the destruction of homes , or damage to land."
"In reality, the people of Quneitra have not experienced real relief after the fall of Assad; instead, they found themselves facing another brutal and relentless enemy," she said. Refusing to give up Hasan called on the Syrian government to intensify diplomatic efforts to secure the detainees' release and to provide greater transparency to affected communities.
She also suggested that local communities may eventually need to establish more permanent mechanisms to support detainees and their families.
"If the situation continues as it is, we may need something more sustainable, such as a committee for detainees held by the occupation, institutions to support families, or an organised grassroots movement to uncover the fate of detainees and stop the arrests," she said.
Despite the challenges, she said residents remain determined to continue pressing the issue.
"The situation is far from good. People – including myself – live with the fear of waking up to find Israel inside our homes or on our land, or that someone from our families has been taken," she said.
"The only option is to keep trying, because this is our land, our country, and our people. We cannot fall into political nihilism and say 'Israel is strong and nothing can be done'. There is always something that can be done, at the very least to keep trying."