An Israeli raid in southern Syria on Friday killed 13 people in the village of Beit Jinn with Syrian government accusing Israel of a “criminal attack,” according to Reuters.
The Israeli military announced that six soldiers were wounded, three of them severely, by militant fire during an operation to arrest them.
The raid represents one of the deadliest since the overthrow of President Bashar Al-Assad in December 2024.
Israel carried out frequent airstrikes in Syria during Assad’s rule. However, it has further intensified its attacks after the new government took over Syria, saying that its objective is to keep militants away from the frontier.
Israel announced that its forces had launched the operation to detain Jama’a Islamiya – a Lebanese Sunni Islamist group that attacked Israel during Gaza War. It also accused them of orchestrating “terrorist plots.”
The forces bombed Beit Jinn at 3:40 a.m. (0140 GMT) and then entered the village, killing 13 people and wounding dozens, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.
In response, local residents confronted the Israeli troops, triggering violent clashes.
Israel said that “armed terrorists” fired on its troops, and they responded with fire “along with aerial assistance”.
Military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said that Israel would not allow “terrorism and terrorist elements to entrench themselves on our borders.”
Adraee also noted that they arrested three people suspected “of involvement in terrorist plots,” on Friday.
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