At dawn on Sunday, December 8, Ghada Ramadan awoke to the sound of automatic gunfire and air raids. "We didn't know what was happening, we didn't even know that Bashar [Al-Assad, the Syrian leader] had fallen. The first thing we heard was that the Israelis' invasion," said the 50-year-old from Rasm Al-Rawadi, who raises cows. At around 5:30 am, Israeli armored units entered this hamlet in the Syrian province of Quneitra, nestled in the heart of the demilitarized zone established in 1974 between Syria and the Golan Heights, illegally occupied by Israel since 1967.

Throughout the morning, Ramadan and her family stayed at home, until Israeli soldiers broke down their door at around 11 am. "They were wearing masks and the children were in a panic. They forced us out of our homes at gunpoint," she said, acting out the scene with big gestures. The residents were then herded into a school, the men separated from the women and children. Some were questioned, and most were registered by the Israeli army, which took photos and ID cards.

"Meanwhile, they searched every house. Their tanks destroyed houses. After more than four hours, they told us: 'This is now a military position, you have a few minutes to evacuate'," said the dismayed farmer who, like all 350 inhabitants of the hamlet, was forced to leave. "We lived under the yoke of Bashar, and now the Israelis. Will we ever have the right to a decent life? We just want to go home," said the unhappy shepherdess, who found refuge in a small farm nearby where around 30 displaced people were crammed together.

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