Amnesty urges war crimes probe over Israeli demolitions in Syria’s Quneitra
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Amnesty International on Thursday called for a war crimes investigation into what it described as Israel’s deliberate destruction of civilian houses in Quneitra Governorate, southern Syria, since December 2024, saying the demolitions lacked “absolute military necessity” under international humanitarian law.
In a new report, Amnesty said Israeli forces crossed from the Golan Heights into villages inside the UN-demilitarized zone on Dec. 8, 2024, the day Syria’s former government fell, raiding houses and ordering residents to leave.
Over the following six months, at least 23 civilian structures were destroyed or damaged across al-Hamidiya, Rassim al-Rawadi and al-Rafeed, displacing entire families.
Amnesty said it verified the destruction through satellite imagery, 35 videos and photos, media reports and interviews with eight residents and a local representative. Witnesses reported no active hostilities before, during or after the demolitions.
“The unlawful destruction of civilian property has become a hallmark of Israel’s military operations in the region,” said Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty’s deputy regional director. “Securing Israel’s border cannot be used to justify bulldozing and blowing up people’s homes and villages on the territory of another country.”
The report documented Israeli bulldozers demolishing houses, gardens and agricultural land, and identified nine military bases established by Israeli forces in Quneitra and Daraa after December 2024, some near the destroyed properties. Israeli officials have said operations in Syria aim to prevent threats from Hezbollah or Iran-linked groups and to create a “security buffer zone.”
Amnesty said such justifications do not meet the “absolute military necessity” threshold set by the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from destroying property unless it is materially indispensable to military operations.
Residents described being detained for hours, ordered to leave their houses, and returning weeks later to find them reduced to rubble. Amnesty said families received no compensation, alternative shelter or timeline for return.
The organization said Israel did not respond to its requests for clarification and urged accountability and reparations for affected civilians.