An hour away from Damascus, on a country road to the Syrian town of Hadar, we will meet the Israeli army.
Two military vehicles and several soldiers in full combat gear are at an impromptu checkpoint – a foreign authority in a country that celebrates its freedom. They showed us through.
He witnessed Israel's incursion into Syrian territory – the temporary capture, he said, of the UN-mandated buffer zone, which was established in a cease-fire agreement
“Maybe they will leave, maybe they will stay, maybe they will make the area safe and then leave,” said Riyad Zaidan, who lives in Hadar. “We want to hope, but we will have to wait and see.”
The head of the village, Jawdat al-Tawil, pointed to the territory of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel in 1967, clearly visible from the Hadar terraces.
Many residents still have relatives here.
Now, they see Israeli forces regularly moving around their own town, with parts of it entering the demilitarized zone. On a slope above, Israeli spies can be seen working on the hill.
A week after the fall of President Assad's regime, the feeling of freedom here is linked to mortality.
Jawdat al-Tawil proudly told me how the town had defended itself against militia groups during the Syrian civil war, and showed me pictures of the dozens of men who died doing so.
“We don't allow anyone to trespass on our land,” he said. “(But) Israel is a state – we cannot stand against it. We used to stand against individuals, but Israel is a superpower.”
The IDF has released pictures of soldiers working in Syria (IDF).
Since the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, Israel has also carried out hundreds of airstrikes on military targets across Syria.
And the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu has announced new plans to double the population of Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights, saying the move was necessary because of the “new front” that had opened in Syria.
Speaking before the plan was unveiled, Syria's interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa warned that Israel's military moves risked an unwarranted escalation in the region and said his administration did not seek conflict with Israel.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said their actions were necessary due to threats from jihadist groups operating along the cease-fire linewith Syria, describing their military attacks there as “limited”. and temporary”.
The residents of Hadar mostly belong to the Druze community – a strict, introverted group that broke away from mainstream Shia Islam centuries ago.
When Israel annexed the Golan Heights in the 1967 war, and later annexed it unilaterally, some of the Druze there chose to stay and take Israeli citizenship.
Al-Sharaa, the leader of the Syrian Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia that ousted President Assad this month, has his family roots in the Golan Heights.
Some here on the Syrian controlled side fear that Israel's plan is to seize more land for itself.
For years, Israel has been fighting the Iranian-backed militia there that supported Assad. This border region is a key weapons supply route between Tehran and the proxy forces it hosts, including the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.
Assad's fall has left these groups – and Iran – weaker. But Israel has since ramped up its military campaign, taking advantage of a political vacuum to expand its reach.
It has also been targeting military equipment left by Assad's forces at bases across the country, worrying about who might use it in the future.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that the “immediate threats” to Israel remained, and the recent developments in Syria had increased the threat, “despite the moderate outlook that rebel leaders say present”.
Marginalized by the Assad regime, and targeted as infidels by Sunni jihadist groups such as HTS, Syria's Druze are more tolerant of Israel than many other communities here.
The Israeli-controlled area can be seen from houses in Hadar (BBC)
The town used to fight against the Iranian-backed groups that Israel sees as a threat here, but Jawdat al-Tawil told me that alliances in the area were on the move, and that he is now talking to these groups about reaching an agreement.
Syria is not a place where people have relied on only one alliance, or fought against one enemy.
“We just need peace,” resident Riyad Zaidan told me. “We've had enough war, enough blood, enough hard life – we have to stop.”
Religious minorities such as the Druze suffered under Assad. The country's new leaders from HTS have promised tolerance and respect for Syria's various ethnic and religious groups.
But eight years ago the group was still aligned with global jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda.
It was around the time that HTS split from al-Qaeda in 2016 that Jawdat al-Tawil's son, Abdo, was killed by their militiamen on the outskirts of Hadar, while fighting for the Syrian Army.
He showed me the road where 30-year-old Abdo died, and I asked how he felt about HTS taking control of Syria now.
“At first, they were gangs. Now they have gotten rid of the tyrant (Assad), and come to power,” he said. “They are supposed to rule with justice, provide safety and ensure people's rights.”
“It is not yet clear whether they have changed,” he said. “I hope so.”
Additional reporting by Yousef Shomali, Charlotte Scarr and Mayar Mohanna
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