Israeli has expanded its illegal occupation in southwestern Syria since the fall of Assad [Getty]
Israeli reservists have called for the military to expand its illegal operations deeper into Syrian territory, with a senior officer saying many troops would favour advancing as far as Damascus, according to Israeli media.
Reserve officers serving with the Israeli army's 210th Division have criticised limits on the scope of its operations in southern Syria and called for increased activity inside Syrian villages and surrounding areas, Israeli news site Walla reported.
The officers reportedly argued that deeper incursions would help push what Israel considers potential threats further away from its border.
A senior Israeli officer defended the military's current approach but acknowledged the appetite among reservists for a more wide-scale invasion of Syria.
"Would the reservists like to conquer Damascus? Many of them would," Walla quoted the officer as saying.
The issue was also raised during a visit by Israeli military chief of staff Eyal Zamir around two weeks ago, according to the report.
The officer said reservists deployed to Syria often arrived after serving in Gaza and Lebanon, where the operational environment was significantly different.
"What is happening today in Syria is beyond anything we imagined and any activity we thought of - the activity is non-stop," he said.
Israel currently operates from 10 military positions inside Syrian territory, according to Walla, conducting operations around the clock based on intelligence and military assessments.
The report said Israeli forces have conducted raids well beyond the immediate border area, singling out Beit Jinn in the western Damascus countryside, around 11 kilometres from the occupied Golan Heights.
The senior officer said some reservists wanted to reach Beit Jinn "every day", saying that 14 militants had been killed in three separate Israeli raids in the area.
The comments come amid continuing Israeli military operations around Beit Jinn and elsewhere in southern Syria.
Israeli forces carried out a series of incursions in the Damascus and Quneitra countrysides on Saturday, sources told The New Arab.
An Israeli force comprising two tanks, a bulldozer and more than 10 other vehicles entered agricultural land surrounding the Beit Jinn farm area in the western Damascus countryside, according to the sources.
Another force of three military vehicles entered an area west of Saida al-Hanout in the Quneitra countryside, while four Israeli military vehicles entered the town of al-Rafid, where soldiers searched several homes.
Israeli forces also fired an artillery shell at agricultural land in the Ain al-Shaara area near Beit Jinn following similar shelling overnight.
Israeli military operations have become increasingly frequent in southern Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December 2024.
Israel moved troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating the two countries following Assad's fall and has since established military positions and carried out raids, arrests and strikes deeper inside Syrian territory.
Syria and the United Nations have said Israel's deployment violates Syrian sovereignty and the 1974 Disengagement Agreement governing the separation of Israeli and Syrian forces.
France on Friday called for Israeli troops to withdraw from Syrian territory, while reiterating its support for efforts to reach a security agreement between Damascus and Israel.
The French foreign ministry told Syria's official SANA news agency that any military deployment within the separation zone constitutes a violation of the 1974 agreement.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani has condemned Israel's violations of Syrian sovereignty, saying Damascus had received support from more than 40 countries at the UN Security Council.
He reaffirmed Syria's territorial integrity and said it would continue defending its rights through "all legitimate political and diplomatic means".
A UN commission investigating Syria said earlier this week that Israeli military activity in the country's south had become "increasingly sustained and entrenched", warning that some Israeli actions could amount to war crimes.