An Israeli military operation against a Syrian village on Friday morning marked the deadliest foreign attack on Syria since the ouster of former dictator Bashar al-Assad last year.
At least 13 people were killed and 24 injured when Israeli forces invaded the village of Beit Zin in southern Syria to capture two members of the Lebanese Islamic extremist group Jama’a Islamiyah. The Israeli military said in a statement that two members of the armed group were planning future attacks on Israel.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the incident turned deadly after clashes broke out. The statement added that six Israeli soldiers were injured, three seriously, and two militants were captured and brought back to Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released body camera footage of the nighttime raid, including what it called “face-to-face” combat during the encounter. Footage shows a chaotic moment as Israeli forces fire a volley of gunfire across a village road.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry said Israel launched a “savage and systematic shelling” that killed women and children after residents of the village “confronted” Israeli soldiers.
The director of Damascus’ al-Muwasat Hospital told Syria’s state news agency that five members of a Syrian family were killed in the Israeli attack. Syria’s Foreign Ministry added that the attack caused “mass evacuations” to neighboring areas after residents evacuated from shelling.
After President Bashar al-Assad was ousted last year, Israel expressed distrust of the Islamic rebels led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who occupied a number of villages in southern Syria. The Israeli government has launched a series of airstrikes and military incursions aimed at disabling the Assad regime’s military infrastructure and weapons from Islamic rebels.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered the military to intervene in southern Syria to protect the Druze minority after clashes broke out in July between forces loyal to Syria’s new government and members of the religious order.
Friday’s attack was part of “ongoing routine operations in the region in recent months,” the IDF said.
Israel’s military intervention in Syria has increased pressure on the new al-Shara government, which has repeatedly expressed its desire to maintain peace with Israel as it seeks to rebuild the country devastated by more than a decade of civil war.
The two countries have held several unprecedented face-to-face talks over the past year to discuss a security agreement, but so far no permanent agreement has been reached.
Al-Shalah became the first Syrian president to visit the White House in Washington this month.
