The New Arab / August 9, 2026
Israel’s expanding trench-and-berm system along the occupied Golan comes as rights groups warn that it is expanding its occupation of Syrian territory.
Israel’s army says it has completed nearly 80% of excavation work on a major military fortification project along the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, according to an Israeli media report, as Israel continues military incursions and attacks inside Syrian territory.
The project, known in Hebrew as Mizrah Hadash or “New East”, consists of deep anti-vehicle trenches and earth berms running along the frontier with Syria. Ynet reported on Friday that the works began around two years ago and that the excavations are close to completion, citing the Israeli military during a field visit to the area.
According to the report, the trenches are around four metres deep and four metres wide, designed to obstruct armed groups from entering Israeli-controlled territory by car or motorcycle. The Israeli army has said the project is intended to delay any attempted cross-border incursion and give forces time to respond.
Israel publicly acknowledged the “New East” project in late 2024, when its Northern Command described it as a new engineering barrier on the border of the occupied Golan Heights with the rest of Syria.
The report said the barrier stretches from the area around the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the north towards the Israeli-occupied Golan’s southern junction with Jordan. It comes alongside a wider Israeli military deployment in southern Syria, where Israeli forces have established positions beyond the so-called separation line and carried out repeated raids and air strikes.
Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 war and formally annexed the territory in 1981, a move rejected by the UN Security Council as “null and void and without international legal effect”. The Golan remains occupied Syrian territory under international law, while Israeli settlements there are illegal.
Israeli military activity in occupied territory draws criticism
The new military works have also drawn international scrutiny. In November 2024, the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) reported Israeli engineering activity, including trenches and berms, in and around the UN-monitored buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces. The UN said Israeli activity in the area violated the 1974 disengagement agreement.
Most recently, during a visit to Damascus this July, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the situation around the Golan was “totally unacceptable”, reaffirmed that the territory is Syrian, and also called for an end to Israeli violations.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, Israel has launched regular incursions into Syria beyond the Golan Heights, moving troops into the demilitarised zone and beyond. Israeli forces have repeatedly entered villages in Quneitra and Daraa provinces, set up checkpoints and abducted dozens of people.
Israel has framed its operations as necessary for “security”, while claiming to be protecting Syria’s Druze population. Damascus, however, has condemned the incursions and attacks as violations of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Human rights groups say Israel’s actions have gone beyond temporary security measures. Amnesty International said in May that the Israeli military’s destruction of civilian homes in Quneitra since December 2024, where not justified by absolute military necessity, should be investigated as war crimes.
Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, an occupying power is prohibited from destroying private property except where such destruction is absolutely necessary for military operations.
The fortification effort also coincides with Israel’s drive to entrench its civilian presence in the occupied Golan. In April, Israel approved a plan worth nearly $334 million aimed at expanding Katzrin and bringing thousands more Israeli settler families into the territory.
Human Rights Watch said the plan demonstrated an intent to transfer Israeli civilians into occupied territory, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law and may amount to a war crime.
