Israel has deployed a 140-cow cattle herd across approximately 10,000 dunams — roughly 2,500 acres — of Syrian territory near the Yarmouk Basin, in a military-backed operation designed to displace Syrian shepherds, establish a permanent civilian agricultural presence, and consolidate Israeli control over land beyond the country’s existing border fence. The project, named “Alot Hashachar” (Heights of Dawn) in honour of a recently killed Israeli officer, has been confirmed by Ynet News and Israeli military officials. It has alarmed Syrian farmers, humanitarian researchers, and Jordanian officials who warn the operation threatens both the sovereignty of Syrian territory and the shared water resources of the Yarmouk River basin.
The cattle farm was launched approximately six months ago under operational secrecy. In January 2026, 210th Division commander Brigadier General Yair Palai and outgoing 474th Brigade commander Colonel Benny Kata approved a new strategy: deploying grazing land and livestock as a means of holding territory, providing a security presence, and creating early warning against infiltration. The civilian operator selected for the project was Yoel Zilberman, founder and chief executive of HaShomer HaChadash, a Zionist land-protection organisation he established in 2007 that now operates with tens of millions of dollars in annual funding from Israeli government ministries and the Israel Land Authority.
The Israeli military built approximately 22 kilometres of livestock fencing — some of it electrified — to support the operation, according to the Kurdish news agency ANHA. The area of Syrian territory under Israeli military control since the incursions following the fall of the Assad government has reached approximately 235 square kilometres, according to the same report.
Zilberman described the operation’s purpose without ambiguity in an interview with Ynet. “My cow company pushed back the Syrian herds that had been here for 50 years,” he said. “The moment the Syrians saw that there was a cattle herd here, that there were civilian farmers and that there was a real hold on the ground, you saw the change. They moved their herds away because they were afraid we would confiscate them. This is no longer no-man’s land.”
A senior unnamed IDF officer told Ynet the project was considered a success. “Since we brought in the herds and put up cattle fences, there are no Syrian shepherds here, no cows and no fear of explosive devices on the fence,” the officer said. “In practice, we restored the original border to our hands. Zilberman’s presence here, on the western slopes of the Rokad, is a security and national interest of the State of Israel.”
Zilberman told Ynet that military commanders pressed him to move faster. “They even scolded us that we needed to seize the ground faster and restore sovereignty to the area,” he said. He added that the IDF’s stated goal was to reach a situation where a civilian could move freely in the area — something he said was impossible before January 2026. Radio Free Syria noted that Israeli officials spoke openly of “holding the ground” and “restoring sovereignty,” and that cooperation between the military and the Israel Land Authority to formalise civilian use of the area raised questions about the long-term entrenchment of Israeli control over occupied Syrian land.
The Yarmouk Basin, where the cattle farm is located, is shared by three political entities: Jordan, Syria, and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Approximately 69 percent of basin land is in Syria and 29 percent in Jordan, with less than 2 percent under Israeli control prior to December 2024, according to research published by the Geneva Water Hub. The basin has historically provided irrigation and water supply to farming communities in Daraa province and northern Jordan alike.
Syrian farmers in the area have documented systematic exclusion from their land. A farmer in the village of Koya identified as Hani Mohammed told the Christian Science Monitor that Israeli forces had cut off access to fields of wheat, barley, tomatoes, zucchini, lemons, olives, and pomegranates in the Yarmouk Valley. “The Yarmouk Valley is our only source of living. We are willing to risk our lives for this valley,” he said. “If we lose this valley, we will die of hunger.” His daughter was wounded by shrapnel from an Israeli drone strike in the vicinity.
A farmer identified only as Abu Saddam told Syria Direct that Israeli aircraft had sprayed herbicides over much of the Yarmouk Basin at the start of 2026, destroying the bulk of his feed crop. He had rented land to compensate for fields bulldozed by Israeli forces earlier in the conflict and was only able to harvest four dunams out of approximately 40.
The Sijil Centre, a Syrian research and monitoring organisation, documented at least 1,672 Israeli military violations inside Syrian territory between August 2025 and May 2026. March 2026 marked the highest monthly total on record: more than 321 military operations, including 121 aerial actions, and the detention of 41 civilians, the centre reported to Middle East Eye. In the Yarmouk Basin specifically, the Sijil Centre found that Israeli operations have consisted primarily of selective artillery shelling and targeted midnight raids.
In western Daraa, farmers and herders have described systematic checkpoints, phone searches, and restrictions that force them onto longer routes to reach their own land. “Just seeing a checkpoint or patrol can make people choose a longer route or delay going out,” a journalist living in the Yarmouk Basin area told Syria Direct, requesting anonymity for security reasons. Syrian farmers reported being unable to irrigate crops and forced to keep livestock penned, spending hundreds of dollars per month on animal feed. Shepherds have been selling herds at a third of their market value, Syria Direct reported.
The cattle project connects to a broader Israeli expansion that began hours after the fall of the Assad government in December 2024. In the first 48 hours after Assad’s collapse, Israeli forces had captured 350 square kilometres of Syrian territory, extending from Mount Hermon in the north to a strip of Daraa’s Yarmouk Basin in the south, according to the Sijil Centre. Israel has since built nine military bases inside Syrian territory, with activity indicating a tenth is under construction. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated on June 15 that Israeli forces would “remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, without any time limit” for the protection of Israeli citizens.
The operation raises specific concern for Jordan, whose agriculture in the north of the country depends on Yarmouk Basin water. Israeli military presence along the basin’s Syrian bank limits access to water infrastructure including a dam on the Yarmouk River, which Jordanian and Syrian farming communities have historically shared. Residents of the area have told researchers they are routinely barred from approaching the dam and surrounding water sources.
US-mediated negotiations between Syria and Israel have continued in parallel with the military expansion. The last known meeting between US presidential envoy Tom Barrack and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa took place in Damascus on May 16. A Jordanian source told The National that Barrack’s influence over Israel on the Syria file is limited because the Israelis “are not very comfortable with him” due to his ties with Turkey.
Background
Israel occupied the Syrian Golan Heights in 1967 and formally annexed it in 1981, in a move not recognised by the United Nations or most of the international community. The 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Israel and Syria established a buffer zone patrolled by the UN Disengagement Observer Force. Hours after Bashar al-Assad’s government collapsed in December 2024, Israeli forces crossed the 1974 ceasefire line, entering the buffer zone and advancing into southern Syria. Since then, Israeli forces have carried out repeated incursions, detentions, house raids, artillery shelling, and construction of military bases in Quneitra and Daraa provinces. Saudi Arabia has condemned the Israeli operations and called on Israel to withdraw to the 1974 disengagement line. The Yarmouk Basin has been described as Syria’s breadbasket since Roman times; 70 percent of farmland in Quneitra and Daraa is used to grow staple crops including wheat, chickpeas, and lentils.
What Happens Next
The Israel Land Authority is cooperating with the military to formalise civilian use of the Alot Hashachar farm site, according to Radio Free Syria, suggesting Israel intends to regularise the presence rather than treat it as a temporary security measure. US-Israel-Syria negotiations mediated by Barrack are expected to continue, though the territorial expansion on the ground has complicated those talks and no framework agreement has been reached. The UN has not publicly responded to the cattle farm specifically. Syria’s new government, led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa, has condemned Israeli violations but has not taken military action in response. Jordan has not issued a formal government statement on the Alot Hashachar farm but Jordanian sources have flagged the water implications of Israeli control over the basin to the US envoy.
