Israeli forces killed 13 people, including women and children, during an overnight operation in the southern Syrian village of Beit Jin, Damascus reported Friday.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the raid as a “war crime” and warned it risks “setting the region on fire”.
What Israel says
The IDF stated the operation targeted suspects from the Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya, allied with Hamas, who were allegedly planning attacks on Israeli civilians from Beit Jin.
During the raid, heavy clashes erupted. Six Israeli soldiers were wounded, three seriously.
Syrian account
Residents woke around 3 a.m. to gunfire and shelling. Israeli troops and tanks entered the village, met resistance from locals, then withdrew as airstrikes and artillery followed.
State media reported homes and the village mosque were hit. Dozens were injured, some remain trapped under rubble.
Two local men were reportedly detained.
Broader context
This is the deadliest Israeli ground incursion into Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 and the rise of the Islamist-led government under President Ahmad al-Shara.
Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes and maintains troops beyond the 1974 disengagement line in the Golan Heights buffer zone, claiming security needs.
Beit Jin lies just outside the UN-monitored demilitarised zone on Mount Hermon’s slopes, about 40 km from Damascus.
Despite high-level talks mediated by France and the US over the summer, no security agreement has been reached.
Israel demands full demilitarisation south of Damascus; Syria rejects any territorial concessions, especially the annexed Golan.
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