At least 13 people have been killed in an Israeli raid on a village in southern Syria overnight, state media reported, in one of the deadliest incidents of its kind for months. It said children were among the dead.
Sana news agency said residents of Beit Jinn confronted Israeli troops, leading to a firefight. Air strikes were also carried out. Syria's foreign ministry condemned what it called a war crime by Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said troops went into the village, on the edge of the occupied Golan Heights, to detain militants who it claimed were planning attacks against Israeli civilians.
Six Israeli soldiers were injured in the clashes, three seriously, according to the IDF.
The IDF stated that the operation targeted the Jamaa Islamiya militant group. They reported that several armed individuals opened fire on soldiers as the raid commenced.
Independent monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) indicated that a building collapsed during the operation.
Sana, the Syrian state news agency, reported that the village was also shelled, and footage released by the IDF showed air strikes impacting both a group of individuals and a building.
The IDF later confirmed that all of the suspects were apprehended, and a number of terrorists were eliminated. Following this, Sana stated that three people were arrested before the troops withdrew.
The director of a local hospital reported that numerous injured individuals had been brought to the facility, including victims from the same family.
The Syrian government accused Israel of committing a fully-fledged war crime and called upon the UN Security Council to intervene against Israel's aggressive actions.
This raid highlights the intense ongoing conflict between Israel and Syria, which includes regular Israeli military operations aimed at thwarting militant threats in the region. The tensions have escalated following the destabilizing events following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, with Israel asserting its intent to maintain a strong military presence to prevent perceived threats from emerging militant groups.
Israel continues to conduct operations in accordance with its military strategy, claiming to protect its borders and citizens from potential terror attacks.
