Israel kills 13 people in dawn incursion into southern Syria

An Israeli incursion into Syrian territory in the Damascus countryside at dawn today killed at least 13 Syrians, according to state media and quoted by AFP.

The death toll had originally been set at nine, and then ten: "The number of martyrs from the Israeli aggression ... has risen to 10, including women and children, while others remain trapped under the rubble," Syrian state television said earlier today.

The mayor of Beit Jinn, a village at the foot of Mount Hermon, Abdel Rahman al-Hamrawi, told AFP that the Israeli army had carried out an incursion to “arrest three sons” of the village.

He added that “clashes took place between residents who tried to oppose the incursion” of the Israeli army, which later “shelled the community with artillery and drones,” causing casualties. Syrian television showed dozens of families fleeing the area.

Several Israeli soldiers were also reported wounded in clashes that erupted between residents and the invading Israeli force.

A statement published by Israel's military said that: "The suspects operated in the area of Beit Jinn in southern Syria and advanced terror attacks against Israeli civilians." It added that six soldiers were injured in an exchange of fire, three of them seriously.

After the fall of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 and the arrival of the new Islamist leadership in Damascus, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria.

Israel swiftly deployed troops into the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone, which has separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights since 1974.

Israel has occupied Syria's Golan Heights since 1967, annexing it in 1981 in a move not recognized by the international community.

In a resolution passed on Nov. 6, the U.N. Security Council reaffirmed its strong backing for Syria's "sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity."

During the summer, high-level contacts between Israeli and Syrian officials took place, with the help of Paris and Washington. Both sides indicated their desire to reach a security agreement.

The United States has been pushing for a security pact between Syria and Israel, part of President Donald Trump's goal to reach a broader Middle East peace settlement.

While Syrian and Israeli officials have held repeated rounds of talks, President Ahmed al-Sharaa has ruled out Syria joining the Abraham Accords, under which a handful of Arab countries have normalized ties with Israel.

He recently met with Trump and warned in a U.N. speech that Israel's persistent attacks put the region at risk, but backed diplomacy.

"In the face of this aggression, Syria is committed to dialogue," he said.

Syria on Friday condemned an Israeli military operation in southern Syria that killed 13 people overnight as a "war crime."

"Syria denounces... the criminal aggression" of the Israeli army in the village of Beit Jin, the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that such acts aim to "ignite the region" in conflict.

According to the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Rami Abdel Rahman, “this is the deadliest incursion since Israel began to carry out operations outside the buffer zone in southern Syria.”