- QUNEITRA, SYRIA — OCT. 20, 2025: Israel has expanded its military presence in Syria’s Daraa and Quneitra provinces to 19 positions over the past three months, following the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The Israeli army shelled an area in Syria’s southern Daraa province on Wednesday evening, using three different types of munitions, local media reported.

The shelling that struck northwest the village of Koya was accompanied by bursts of gunfire, according to state-run broadcaster Al-Ekhbaria TV, which provided no details on casualties or damage.

Israeli shelling had previously killed five people in the same village last March.

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated a 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.

Israel also took advantage of the regime's fall to launch hundreds of strikes that targeted military sites and assets across Syria, including fighter jets, missile systems, and air defense installations, according to reports.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia last December, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963. Sharaa’s new transitional administration was formed in January.