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Beit Jinn drone strike
Syria denounced an Israeli drone attack near the Golan Heights after Syrian state television said a man was wounded when an "Israeli occupation drone" struck a vehicle in the town of Beit Jinn, located southwest of the capital Damascus and near the Golan Heights.
“"Israeli occupation drone" struck a vehicle in the town of Beit Jinn”
The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a communiqué that the attack was a "flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the Arab Republic of Syria and of the integrity of its territory" and a "flagrant breach of international law."
Israel’s army said its forces "fired in southern Syria at a terrorist" carrying out attacks in the final stages of preparation, adding that the person posed an "imminent threat" to soldiers.
The incident was described as part of near-daily Israeli incursions and attacks in the area, with Al Jazeera reporting that the strike hit a small delivery truck on the main road between Beit Jinn farmland and the town itself.
Al Jazeera also reported that residents said one victim was a civilian driver delivering goods and orders on the truck, and that a medical source said he was in stable condition with an injury to his right hand.
Damascus, Israel trade accusations
Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a statement that Saturday’s strike resulted in several civilian injuries and that it "condemns in the strongest terms" the targeting of a "civilian vehicle" by an Israeli drone.
Al Jazeera quoted a correspondent, Adham Abu al-Hussam, saying "Residents say [one of the victims is] a civilian who works as a driver, delivering goods and orders on this truck," and reported that neighbours rushed the wounded man to hospital after the explosion.
In parallel, Israel’s military confirmed the strike, saying it had targeted “a terrorist who advanced terror attacks in their final stages of preparation” in southern Syria and that the activity “posed an immediate threat to our forces.”
Kurdistan24 framed the same episode as a second reported Israeli attack on Syrian territory in a week, describing Syria’s Foreign Ministry description of the strike as a “flagrant violation” and a breach of international law.
The dispute over the broader context also surfaced as Tom Barrack, the U.S. president Donald Trump’s special envoy for Syria, denounced an "avoidable escalation" after Israel’s attacks on a disused military air base in northwest Syria, while Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X that Barrack’s comment was "full of inaccuracies".
Security zone and next moves
The strike came as Israel deployed troops to the UN-patrolled buffer zone that separates Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights after the December 2024 ouster of Bashar al-Assad, and as it carried out attacks and repeated incursions in southern Syria where it seeks to expand the demilitarized zone.
“Israel deployed troops to the UN-patrolled buffer zone that separates Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights”
Al Jazeera reported that Muhsen al-Mustafa, a security and strategic researcher at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies in Damascus, said Israel treats Syria, particularly the south, as a security zone it is trying to fill any vacuum in.
The same Al Jazeera report said Damascus remains committed to de-escalation and is pursuing a security arrangement with Israel through United States mediation, based on the 1974 disengagement agreement.
In a separate thread of consequences, Al Jazeera said Israel’s declared security zone “isn’t limited to the south” after it struck Abu al-Duhur military airport in Idlib province, and that the aim Israel gave was to prevent a Turkish military presence there.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera also reported that residents had said Israeli reconnaissance drones had been flying over the area for four days, and that the attack on Beit Jinn followed a late November raid that killed 13 civilians and wounded six soldiers, three of them seriously.