Earthen embankments built by Israeli forces during the construction of a military road known as “Sufa 53” collapsed as a result of heavy rainfall in the area.
The collapse, which took place on Monday, March 30, led to flash floods that now threaten farmland around the town of Jubata al-Khashab (northern Quneitra countryside, southern Syria).
Floodwaters inundated some agricultural land and homes around the villages of Ofania, Ain al-Bayda, and Jubata al-Khashab in northern Quneitra countryside.
According to Enab Baladi’s correspondent, the damage affected fields planted with wheat, fava beans, and barley, in addition to flooding some homes located near the flood channels.
The correspondent added that the flowing water is originally part of Quneitra governorate’s natural water flow, but Israeli authorities had previously blocked its access because of the embankments built in the area.
Although the flooding did not cover wide areas, farmers expressed concern over crop damage ahead of the harvest season and soil erosion.
Videos and photos circulated on social media showed water flowing heavily along the military road lined with the earthen embankments, causing them to lose their ability to retain and regulate the water, and turning the road into a natural flood channel.
This development comes amid unstable weather conditions across Syria in recent days, with waves of heavy rain and flash floods in several areas, according to weather bulletins and local weather observers, increasing the risk of flooding and soil erosion in agricultural areas.
“Sufa 53” road
About six months before the fall of the former regime, Israeli forces built trenches and earthen embankments along the barbed-wire fence from north to south on the western side, within the buffer zone, with the aim of creating a military road to facilitate their movements in the area.
The Israeli army named the new military road inside Syrian territory “Sufa 53.”
The project is part of a broader military expansion along the border strip with the occupied Golan Heights and is intended to ease the movement of military vehicles inside Syrian territory near the border.
Work on the road began in mid-2022, when an Israeli military force entered Syrian territory with six Merkava tanks and two military bulldozers, accompanied by soldiers tasked with monitoring the border and the machinery, according to local correspondents in Quneitra governorate.
The work extends at least 100 meters into Syrian territory, and in some areas reaches a depth of one kilometer, where bulldozers are carving the road and clearing land along its route.
At the time, Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Quneitra reported that Israeli bulldozers had cleared parts of the agricultural land belonging to residents of border villages, particularly in the towns of Jubata al-Khashab and al-Hurriya in northern Quneitra countryside.
Israeli army units also prevent farmers and shepherds from approaching while the machinery is operating, using daily gunfire to push civilians away from the area, making it even harder for them to access their fields and farms.
Israeli correspondents’ cameras documented the work of these vehicles at different times, most recently in November 2022, when Israel’s Kan 11 channel aired a video report showing bulldozers and tanks operating inside Syrian territory.
The project has stirred wide controversy among residents, who view the road as a threat to their farms and to civilian life, especially as continued heavy rainfall in the area increases the risk of flash floods and soil erosion.
Activists also consider the military road a reflection of poorly planned military infrastructure expansion inside Syrian territory, with direct consequences for the environment, agriculture, and civilian life in the border villages.
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