ISLAMABAD: Syria on Friday denounced an Israeli military operation in southern Syria that left 13 people dead, calling the overnight raid in the village of Beit Jin a “war crime” and a “criminal aggression” aimed at igniting regional conflict.
According to Syrian state media, the casualties included women and children, with some victims still believed to be trapped under rubble. Residents disputed Israeli claims that most of the dead were militants, insisting that many were civilians.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the incursion represented a clear violation of the country’s sovereignty and international law.
Israel offered a sharply different account. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the raid was an intelligence-based mission targeting operatives from al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, a Lebanese group Israel alleges was preparing attacks on Israeli civilians.
The IDF said its troops exchanged fire with gunmen as they exited the village after detaining three suspects. Six Israeli soldiers were wounded. Aerial support — including helicopters and drones — was called in to suppress the gunmen, the military said.
Syria has issued similar accusations against Israeli operations in recent months, while rights groups such as Human Rights Watch have also criticized Israel for actions in southern Syria.
Civil Defense teams, accompanied by two ambulances from the Damascus Countryside Health Directorate, entered the affected area to evacuate the dead and treat the wounded following the Israeli attack, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
The broadcaster reported that dozens of families fled Beit Jinn for nearby safer areas as the assault unfolded. Earlier, state media claimed that an Israeli patrol briefly entered the town, engaged in a short clash with local residents, and then withdrew.
SANA said the Israeli army has conducted 47 raids in southern Syria in November alone. Government statistics indicate that since December 2024, Israel has carried out more than 1,000 airstrikes on Syrian territory and over 400 cross-border ground raids into the country’s southern provinces.
Following the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, Israel expanded its presence in the occupied Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone — a move Damascus says violates the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.
