On Wednesday, Israeli forces conducted a significant military operation on a former army barracks in the village of Kiswa, located southwest of Syria’s capital, Damascus. The multi-pronged attack involved a series of air strikes, verified by video footage, as well as an audacious helicopter-borne ground incursion, according to Syrian state media and military sources.
A Syrian military source reported that four Israeli helicopters landed dozens of soldiers along with an unspecified amount of search equipment. The Israeli forces allegedly spent more than two hours at the site without engaging in any clashes with the Syrian army. This operation came just one day after a separate Israeli drone strike killed six Syrian soldiers near the same location.
Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a swift and strong condemnation, labeling the attack a “gross violation of international law and the United Nations Charter” and a “clear breach of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic.” The incident has further strained relations under the interim government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
This raid is part of a broader pattern of escalating Israeli military actions since the fall of former leader Bashar al-Assad in December. Israel has launched hundreds of strikes across Syria and has expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violates a 1974 disengagement agreement. Earlier this week, Syria also accused Israel of sending troops to take control of an area inside the Syrian border near Mount Hermon.
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Syrian officials have increasingly accused Israel of pursuing “expansionist and partition plans” in the region. These latest operations follow deadly sectarian violence in the Druze-majority province of Suwayda in July. Since then, Israel has conducted attacks on Syrian troops and bombed Damascus, claiming it is acting to protect the Druze people, a pretext that Damascus firmly rejects.
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