Israeli forces kill at least 10 in southern Syria raid, officials and residents say : NPR

This is a location map of Syria with its capital, Damascus.

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DAMASCUS, Syria — Israeli forces in southern Syria attacked a village and opened fire on residents Friday, killing at least 10 people, Syrian officials said, as Israel battles on multiple fronts while the fragile ceasefire in Gaza advances.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that the attack was “a horrific massacre” and said women and children were among those killed.

Syria’s official SANA news agency said Israeli forces entered the village of Beit Jin aiming to arrest local men and opened fire after residents protested. Dozens of families have fled the region.

Israel said Friday it carried out an operation following intelligence information to apprehend suspects from the Jamaa Islamiya, or Islamic Group, operating in Beit Jin to attack Israeli civilians. During the raid, several militants fired on Israeli troops, wounding half a dozen soldiers who were evacuated to a hospital, the army said.

Israeli troops fired on the militants and also responded with air assistance, the army said. The operation was over, all suspects were apprehended and a number of militants were killed.

Israel has viewed Syria’s new authorities with suspicion since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning offensive by Islamist insurgents in December 2024. Since Assad’s fall, Israeli forces have seized a formerly UN-monitored buffer zone in southern Syria established under a 1974 disengagement agreement. Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian military sites and pushed to the creation of a demilitarized zone south of Damascus.

The two countries, which do not maintain diplomatic relations, are negotiating a possible security agreement aimed at defusing the situation.

Syrian officials have condemned Israeli incursions as a violation of Syrian sovereignty. On Friday, the government called on the international community to take “urgent measures” to end Israeli incursions.

A local village official, Walid Okasha, told The Associated Press that those killed were civilians and that one of them had celebrated his wedding the day before.

“The situation is miserable,” he said.

In a previous raid on Beit Jin in June, Israeli forces captured several people they claimed were Hamas members — a characterization disputed by residents — and killed a man whose family said he had a history of schizophrenia.

Ongoing conflicts in the region have fueled fears that the unrest could spill over and jeopardize the fragile truce in Gaza.

The deaths in Syria follow a series of strikes carried out Thursday by the Israeli Air Force in parts of southern Lebanon. Israel says its ongoing strikes are aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding after a devastating war last year ended in a ceasefire.

The United Nations said Tuesday that Israel has killed at least 127 civilians, including children, in its strikes on Lebanon since the ceasefire a year ago. Things escalated earlier this week with a rare strike in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, killing a senior Hezbollah official whom Israel described as the group’s chief of staff.