A video circulated on social media that was presented as footage of Israeli military vehicles driving through the streets of Syria’s Daraa while allegedly being welcomed by local residents. The recording shows three armored vehicles and a white car, while a voice off-camera says, “Welcome, come through.” The post sparked outrage and criticism of the Syrian government and President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Some accounts linked the video to a statement by Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir about the creation of a 40-kilometer defensive zone inside Syria. According to available information, the Iraqi television channel “i News” was the first to promote this interpretation on August 21, after which the clip quickly spread on Facebook, X, and TikTok.
However, a fact-check uncovered discrepancies: the video contained no other evidence of the alleged Israeli incursion into Daraa, the speech did not sound Syrian, and local media reported no such event. In addition, the café signs, gas station, and fuel tanker visible in the footage did not match the Syrian surroundings.
A search for the sign “Hamodi Coffé” showed that a café with the same name, logo, and design is located in the city of Qabatiya in Jenin Governorate, in the northern West Bank. The same café and gas station also appear in archival materials from a local fuel company, while similar tankers and yellow taxis can be seen nearby. This confirmed that the footage was not filmed in Daraa, but in the occupied West Bank.
The original was posted on August 10 by a Palestinian TikTok user from Qabatiya, accompanied by an ironic caption saying that residents had “become too accustomed to them,” referring to regular Israeli raids. Another angle of the same incursion was published by local Palestinian channels on August 9. The false version gained traction against the backdrop of a real escalation: Israel had conducted raids and carried out strikes on sites in southern Syria and the Damascus area, which Syrian authorities condemned in appeals to the United Nations.
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What are the geographical and political differences between Syria’s Daraa Governorate, Qabatiya, and the northern West Bank that could have led them to be mistaken for one another? — Daraa is a governorate in southwestern Syria, near the border with Jordan and the Golan Heights. Qabatiya is a Palestinian town south of Jenin in the northern West Bank, which is under Israeli occupation. They are therefore different territories with different political contexts: Daraa is part of Syria, while Qabatiya is in the Palestinian territories, which are controlled to varying degrees by the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
Why is Qabatiya regularly subjected to Israeli raids, and what role do such operations play in the broader situation in the occupied West Bank? — Israel says the raids are aimed at locating suspects, making arrests, and destroying the infrastructure of armed groups, particularly those linked to Palestinian factions. For West Bank residents, these operations also mean tighter military control, destruction, casualties, and rising tensions. They are part of a broader policy of regular searches, arrests, and military operations in the occupied territory.
What is the “40-kilometer defensive zone” mentioned here, and how are such Israeli statements connected to its policy toward southern Syria? — A “40-kilometer defensive zone” generally refers to a security strip that Israel has said it seeks to establish in southern Syria, rather than an internationally recognized border or a separate administrative area. Such statements are linked to efforts to prevent armed groups from approaching the Golan Heights and to stop weapons transfers. At the same time, they may serve to justify an expansion of Israel’s military presence and control over Syrian territory.
Full version: Israeli patrol and Syrian welcome in Daraa: What is the truth behind the circulating video?