Sources from southern Syria in the al-Quneitra province spoke with the Saudi news network Al-Arabiya, claiming that the IDF made "tempting offers" to the providence residents, Israeli and Arab media reported Monday.
According to the report, sources in the al-Quneitra area claimed that the IDF offered the residents the opportunity to work within Israel during the day and return home in the evening, the same way that the Gazans were allowed to work in Israel before October 7.
"The IDF expressed to those who were offered work that it wanted to issue entry permits that would enable them to enter Israel and work there, just as it did with Palestinians who work in Israel," one southern Syrian resident said.
The resident explained that the residents who would work in Israel would receive a large salary in comparison to the current salaries in Syria.
The report alleged Israel promised that each worker would receive a daily wage between 75 to 100 US dollars, which Syrians would earn over the course of several months.
IDF in southern Syria
The IDF entered Syria in December 2024, right at the end of Assad's regime falling. At the end of January 2025, it was decided that Israel would stay in southern Syria.
Defense Minister Israel Katz announced while standing on the snow-covered Mount Hermon, situated on the Golan Heights, during a visit to soldiers currently stationed in Syrian territory.
“The IDF will remain … in the security zone … for an unlimited time period,” Katz said in a video statement released by the Defense Ministry. “We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria … and we will not be dependent on others for our defense.”
“We will not return to the reality of October 7 and will not be dependent on others for our defense—here and anywhere else,” Katz added.
The collapse of the Assad regime and the rise to power of Ahmad al-Sharaa—formerly known as Mohammad al-Julani and now the interim president of Syria’s new government—led to swift Israeli action. The IDF entered the Syrian side of the Golan Heights and established a presence there.