Syrian state outlets said Israeli forces deliberately ignited a blaze on 11 July in farmland west of Al-Rafid village in the Quneitra countryside, just inside the separation fence that abuts the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The fire burned dozens of dunams—tens of acres—of cropland and pasture, and a land mine exploded as the flames spread. UN peacekeepers working in the buffer zone were reported to have struggled to extinguish the blaze. Quneitra Deputy Governor Muhammad al-Saeed told Anadolu Agency the incident violates the 1974 Syria-Israel Disengagement Agreement, adding that Israel has erected more than eight military posts inside the zone since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government late last year. He said the expansion has already cut access to about 6,000 hectares of farmland, depriving local families of income tied to livestock breeding. Four days later, on 15 July, the Israeli military said “dozens” of Israeli civilians had crossed from the Israeli-held Golan into southern Syria. Troops were deployed to secure their safe return, and Israel’s public broadcaster later reported that the group—identified as members of the Druze community—had been brought back without casualties. The pair of episodes highlights heightened frictions along the frontier since Syria’s political transition in January and Israel’s stepped-up military footprint in the buffer zone, moves Damascus says are eroding the nearly five-decade-old disengagement accord.