Ali al-Abdullah spent more than five months in Israeli detention centers last year after being taken from a village in southwestern Syria.
asserted
Abdullah → spend → Syria
He said he was beaten and placed in solitary confinement, but that no charges were ever brought against him.
asserted
charges → say → him
Kinan Baker was detained by Israeli forces last year from a nearby Syrian village in a middle-of-the-night raid of his home.
asserted
Baker → detain → home
His family has not heard from him since and does not know where he is or why he is being held.
asserted
he → hear → him
Al-Abdullah and Baker are among dozens of Syrians apprehended by Israel since its forces seized a U.N.-mandated buffer zone following the ouster of Bashar Assad nearly two years ago.
asserted
forces → apprehend → Assad
Many were physically and verbally abused during raids and arrests and inside Israeli prisons, according to human rights groups, two former detainees and two relatives of current detainees.
uncertain
Many → abuse → detainees
Israel’s seizure of the buffer zone in December 2024 was met with resentment across Syria – especially among families living within or adjacent to the 235-square-kilometer (91-square-mile) area.
asserted
seizure → meet → area
The euphoria they felt following Assad’s ouster quickly evaporated as Israel introduced checkpoints and patrols in their villages and embarked on a flurry of detentions.
asserted
Israel → feel → detentions
Families of detainees say they feel hopeless and powerless, and that their pleas to the Syrian government and the U.N. for information about their loved ones have fallen on deaf ears.
asserted
pleas → say → ears
“We can only hold on to hope in God, and pray that he reunites us with our son,” said Huda Baker, the mother of Kinan.
asserted
Baker → hold → Kinan
The Israeli military said its presence in and around the buffer zone is needed to defend its northern border from Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group backed by Iran that fought closely alongside Assad during Syria’s 13-year civil war.
asserted
that → say → war
Israeli “troops question and detain individuals when there is reasonable suspicion of their involvement in terrorist activity,” the military said.
asserted
military → question → activity
It rejected allegations of abusing detainees and refused to address specific cases because detainees and their families would not provide their Syrian government ID numbers.
asserted
detainees → reject → numbers
Israel has launched strikes and raids after seizing buffer zone
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed it — a move not recognized by most of the international community.
asserted
Israel → launch → community
To prevent future conflict, a 1974 agreement established a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria adjacent to the Golan.
asserted
agreement → prevent → Golan
After seizing the buffer zone, Israel declared the 1974 agreement void.
asserted
agreement → seize → zone
Israel is skeptical of Syria’s new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was previously the leader of a militant group once linked to al-Qaida.
asserted
who → link → Qaida
Al-Sharaa has revamped his image in recent years and built strong ties with the United States and Europe, but Israel remains wary.
asserted
Israel → revamp → States
Israel has erected military outposts and launched strikes, raids and incursions in Quneitra and Daraa provinces, which straddle the buffer zone.
asserted
which → erect → zone
Its military activity has even reached the countryside southwest of Damascus, the capital.
asserted
activity → reach → Damascus
Al-Sharaa has demanded Israel withdraw from the buffer zone, and a spokesperson for the Quneitra province, Mohammed Saeed, said Israel’s allegations of militant activity there were “baseless lies.”
asserted
allegations → demand → activity
The civil war that led to Assad’s ouster “freed the country from occupying forces, whether they were Iranian or Hezbollah forces present in the area,” said Saeed.
asserted
Saeed → lead → area
Former detainees say they were abused while in Israeli custody
Forty-nine Syrians have been detained since December 2024, though 16 have been released over the past year, according to Syrian government officials and U.N.-backed investigators who have accused Israel of human rights violations in Syria.
uncertain
who → say → Syria
The Syria Justice and Accountability Center, a human rights group based in Washington, said former detainees and relatives who witnessed arrests have alleged ill-treatment or torture.
asserted
who → base → treatment
In interviews with the organization, former detainees said they were held in stress positions and threatened at gunpoint, said Salma Daoudi, a researcher at SJAC.
asserted
Daoudi → say → SJAC
Al-Abdullah, 20, was detained in June 2025 at an Israeli checkpoint in the village of Ain Thakar, which overlooks the buffer zone.
asserted
which → detain → zone
The soldiers asked whether he or anyone in his village was affiliated with armed Islamist militant groups.
asserted
he → ask → groups
He said he was unaffiliated and that no such groups were present in his village.
asserted
groups → say → village
He was then placed into handcuffs, and for the next 5 months he was shuttled between different Israeli detention centers.
asserted
he → place → centers
While he was in solitary confinement at two different prisons, “there was no ventilation, only light,” and he would only be uncuffed for a couple of minutes each day to eat.
asserted
he → be → minutes
“Sleeping was not allowed.
asserted
Sleeping → allow → ?
You had to remain seated cross-legged the whole time and were not allowed to lie down.
asserted
You → have → ?
You would spend seven days like that.
asserted
You → spend → that
‘Five minutes’ of detention turned into 15 months
Huda Baker was asleep when the Israeli military raided her family home in August 2025.
asserted
military → turn → August
She said the military threatened to blow up the house if her son Kinan, 39, did not turn himself over within five minutes.
asserted
son → say → minutes
Her son walked out, she said, at which point he was blindfolded and handcuffed.
asserted
he → walk → ?
He hasn’t been heard from since.
asserted
He → hear → ?
While out walking in the village of Tranje in June 2025, Wadih Baker — no relation to Kinan — came across an Israeli army patrol.
asserted
Baker → walk → patrol
He was apprehended and told he would be released after five minutes.
asserted
he → apprehend → minutes
He was detained for roughly 15 months.
asserted
He → detain → months
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
