Israeli strikes kill 9 in Syria

Israeli strikes have killed nine persons in Syria as troops conducted a raid in the south, the local government and a war monitor said, with the Israeli army saying its forces were responding to fire from militants.

Though this came after an “Israeli incursion”, with “the occupation forces advancing for the first time to this depth”, the local government said in a statement posted to Telegram.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrians were local gunmen who were killed “while attempting to confront Israeli forces, following calls by the mosques in the area for jihad against the Israeli incursion”.

According to the Israeli military, its forces were conducting operations in the Tasil area, near Nawa, “seizing weapons and destroying terrorist infrastructure” when “several gunmen fired at our forces”.

They “responded by firing at them and eliminated several armed terrorists from the ground and from the air”, a spokesperson said. There were no Israeli casualties.

“The IDF (military) will not allow the existence of a military threat in Syria and will act against it,” the spokesperson added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded in February that southern Syria be completely demilitarised and said his government would not accept the presence of the forces of the new Islamist-led government near Israeli territory.

In December, as rebels were overthrowing president Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Netanyahu ordered Israeli troops to enter the UN-patrolled buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied and Syrian-controlled Golan Heights, where they remain.

Israel has also conducted hundreds of air strikes on its neighbour since late last year, mostly targeting military sites and weapons systems.

On Wednesday, Israel hit targets across Syria including in the Damascus area.