Syrians march in Damascus and Homs after disabled man killed

Crowds gathered in Damascus and Homs on Friday to protest recent Israeli military operations in Syria's south. The demonstrations followed an incursion in Daraa province that killed a man with a disability. State media reported that participants in the capital and central Syria condemned the attacks and the presence of foreign troops in the Quneitra and Daraa provinces.

An AFP correspondent in Daraa counted hundreds of attendees at a local rally. Some demonstrators waved Syrian flags. Taysir al-Hariri, a protester in the crowd, told the agency that the group aimed to send a message to the world. He stated that Syria stands united against Israeli incursions and against anyone tempted to tamper with national security.

Footage from state television showed marchers holding posters with the slogan, We are all Moaz. The phrase references the man with special needs who died after being hit by Israeli fire during the earlier incursion. The death has become a central symbol for the ongoing protests.

Outside a United Nations building in Damascus, the family of a Syrian man detained by Israel called for his release. Children in the crowd held up posters that read, I want my dad. The family’s presence highlighted the personal toll of the military presence on Syrian residents.

State media also reported on Friday that Israeli forces had moved into parts of Quneitra province. The troops blocked several roads and bulldozed olive groves. They also set up checkpoints and detained residents in the area.

Since the new government took power in December 2024 after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes in Syria. Israeli troops also entered a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights. That zone had separated Israeli and Syrian forces since 1974. Israel has vowed to maintain troops in a security zone in the south while seeking a wider demilitarized area.