Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Israeli troops operating in southern Syria on March 25 came under attack by a group of gunmen and returned fire, killing at least five.
In a brief statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that the gunmen opened fire on Israeli troops near the city of Daraa. “The troops returned fire in response, and the Israeli Air Force struck them,” the military added, noting that “hits were identified.”
The confrontation took place in the town of Kuya. Local authorities reported that the Israeli shelling had killed at least five people, with most of the town’s residents fleeing.
The IDF targeted the Kuya with artillery, attack helicopters and combat drones. There were also reports of ground forces operating there.
After the end of the confrontation, the IDF announced in an unrelated statement that the Paratroopers Brigade and the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit carried out several raids in southern Syria over the last few weeks, following intelligence on weapons storage sites.
The troops seized and destroyed numerous weapons in the raids, including explosive devices, ammunition, mortars, and other military equipment, the military added.
The IDF has described its presence in southern Syria’s buffer zone as a temporary and defensive measure, though Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that troops will remain deployed to nine army posts in the area “indefinitely.”
Following the fall of the Assad regime last December, the IDF invaded the buffer zone adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights and established nine posts there. The military also launched hundreds of strikes against the country, destroying much of its combat capabilities.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that southern Syria must be completely demilitarized, warning that Israel would not accept the presence of the forces of the country’s new Islamist-led interim government near its territory. The primer also warned the government against attacking the Druze, vowing to defend the minority.
Other Israeli officials have repeatedly criticized Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, with Defense Minister Israel Katz recently calling him an “extreme Islamic leader.”
Sharaa has dismissed Israel’s threats and Katz’s comments as “nonsense,” and his government has denounced Israel’s continued strikes in the country, as well as the IDF’s presence in a buffer zone in southern Syria. However, the country is yet to respond in any way.
The IDF’s repeated incursions into southern Syria and the lack of any response from the interim government have begun to trigger the locals, as evident by the deadly confrontation in Kuya. This could lead to more escalation in the near future. Israel could soon face a full-on insurgency on the Golan front.
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