The Israeli army has been building a road in Syria’s southern Quneitra governorate inside the occupied Golan Heights, according to the local correspondent of Enab Baladi.

Israeli army vehicles have been paving the road, known as ‘Sufa 53,’ since mid-2022, entering the occupied territory with a military force consisting of six Merkava tanks and two military bulldozers, accompanied by several soldiers to monitor the construction of the road.

According to the Syrian correspondent, the length of the road has reached a minimum of about 100 meters in some areas, while in others, it has reached a distance of one kilometer.

The Israeli military bulldozers have reportedly flattened agricultural lands belonging to Syrian farmers in the towns of Jubata al-Khashab and Al-Hurriya in the northern countryside of Quneitra.

Moreover, occupation troops have prevented farmers and shepherds from approaching the area during the construction, opening fire on the locals daily to drive them away.

According to Syrian collaborators who spoke with Enab Baladi, Tel Aviv is building the infrastructure to “monitor the area adjacent to its border with Syria” to protect the occupied land from Hezbollah forces.

The plan calls to establish a security line inside the Syrian territory, starting from the foot of Mount Hermon, west of the town of Ain al-Tinah, in the far north of Quneitra, passing through the vicinity of the town of Jubata al-Khashab, all the way to the far south of Quneitra.

During the six-day war of 1967, Israel occupied a large area of the Golan Heights and annexed it four years later. In 2019, former US president Donald Trump signed a decree recognizing Israeli ‘sovereignty’ over the Golan Heights, in a move widely rejected by the international community.

In 2021, Tel Aviv announced plans to double the number of illegal settlements in the Golan, in direct violation of a resolution by the UN General Assembly demanding complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights.