News - Middle East: Israeli military forces abducted four young Syrian men during a fresh incursion into Syria’s southwestern province of Quneitra, near the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Thursday that an Israeli unit comprising five military vehicles set up a checkpoint at the al-Kasarat junction on the road linking Jbata al-Khashab and Ain al-Bayda.

According to the report, Israeli forces stopped civilians, checked their identities, and detained four men from Jbata before taking them to the village of al-Hamidiyah.

The abductions followed three separate Israeli incursions into the Quneitra countryside earlier on Tuesday.

The development came amid growing political engagement between Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Israeli regime as an HTS delegation recently held a new round of talks with Israeli officials in Paris, under US coordination and mediation.

SANA announced on Monday that the Syrian delegation was led by Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, the foreign minister of the HTS regime, along with general intelligence director Hussein al-Salama.

“The discussions are primarily focused on reactivating the 1974 Disengagement Agreement to ensure Israeli forces withdraw to their positions prior to December 8, 2014, within the framework of an equitable security agreement that prioritizes full Syrian sovereignty and guarantees the prevention of any form of interference in internal affairs,” an informed source said.

The two parties have been involved in intermittent discussions aimed at achieving a "security agreement" for several months; however, no agreement or substantial advancement has been reported.

Following the downfall of Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria last December, the Israeli military has been actively launching airstrikes aimed at military installations, facilities, and arsenals that were once under the control of the now-defunct Syrian army.

Israel has come under strident criticism for terminating the 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria and exploiting the turmoil in the war-stricken country to grab land.

Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), a US war monitoring organization, has recently disclosed that the Israeli military has conducted over 600 attacks in Syria within the last year.

Even with the HTS expressing a commitment to collaborate with Tel Aviv, Israel has shown no intention of pulling back its presence from Syria.

Source: Press TV