Damascus says dozens of troops, 10 military vehicles raided Beit Jinn; IDF doesn’t comment; US envoy says ‘good faith’ talks ongoing between Israel and Syria but security deal not close. Syria on Monday said it “strongly condemns” what it said was an Israeli military incursion into an area in the country’s south, calling it a “dangerous escalation. According to Syria’s Foreign Ministry, dozens of soldiers and over 10 military vehicles were involved in a raid in the area of Beit Jinn, which sits near the border with the Golan Heights.
It also condemned Israel’s “control” of an area in the Mount Hermon foothills, saying it is a “blatant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic. ”The IDF has been deployed to nine posts inside southern Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, mostly within a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the border between the countries.
Troops have been operating in areas up to around 15 kilometers (some nine miles) deep into Syria, including Beit Jinn, aiming to capture weapons that Israel says could pose a threat to the country if they fall into the hands of “hostile forces,” as Iranian-backed groups did during Assad’s rule. It distrusts Syria’s new government, which is led by former jihadists. (Read More)