How Did an Israeli Incursion in Syria's Beit Jann Turn into a Direct Confrontation?

In an unprecedented escalation, 13 Syrians were killed in an Israeli artillery and missile strike that targeted Beit Jann in the Damascus countryside early Friday morning after residents of the town surrounded Israeli soldiers who had incursed to carry out an arrest operation, resulting in injuries to 6 Israeli officers and soldiers.

The Israeli army stated that the attack carried out in Syrian territory is part of Operation "Spear of Bashan," launched after the fall of the regime of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on December 8 of last year, targeting military sites across the country, and it has taken control of strategic sites including Mount Hermon, in addition to controlling the buffer zone.

Although the Israeli army has conducted several operations in recent months to arrest those it claims are "wanted" in the adjacent areas it has incursed in Syria, amid popular attempts to repel them, the Beit Jann operation is the first that has resulted in injuries to a number of occupation soldiers, which Israel considered "exceptional."

The occupation army confirmed that 6 reserve soldiers and officers were injured in a gunfight with what it described as "Syrian militants," after a force from the reserve paratroopers brigade (Brigade 55) led by Division 210 incursed to arrest 3 wanted individuals from the Islamic group.

It added that its forces arrested the three, and while the force was about to withdraw from the village, "gunmen opened fire on them" from about 200 meters away, leading to an exchange of fire and the use of fighter jets, tanks, and drones to attack several sites in the town.

The Israeli army continued that "the militants attacked a Hummer vehicle belonging to the Israeli forces, resulting in injuries to the soldiers inside, causing it to malfunction, leaving it behind, and later shelling it."

Israeli broadcasting authority reported that the Israeli army withdrew to the outskirts of the Syrian town of Beit Jann after two hours of clashes, and evacuated the injured by helicopter to hospitals in Israel.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that the Israeli force that incursed Beit Jann was besieged, necessitating shelling to rescue it.

Israeli army radio quoted security officials stating that the army had been preparing for the Beit Jann operation for a month, claiming it contained a "broad terrorist infrastructure."

The Israeli army claimed that the three individuals targeted for arrest belong to the Islamic group, alleging that they were "promoting narratives against Israel and planning to target Israelis, and one of them had previously launched a rocket and planted explosives."

The occupation army did not disclose the identity of those it kidnapped, but stated that it "arrested them from their beds," while information reported by the Israeli press indicated that two of them are brothers.

The Islamic group is an organization active in Lebanon, and Israel has previously targeted several of its leaders during its recent war in Lebanon.

For its part, the Syrian news agency confirmed that the residents of Beit Jann confronted the occupation forces and clashed with them during their operation last night, before the Israeli army launched airstrikes on the town that resulted in the deaths of 13 Syrians, including 5 from one family, and injured 25 others in an initial toll.

The village chief, Abdul Rahman Al-Hamrawi, told Agence France-Presse that the Israeli occupation army incursed Beit Jann to arrest 3 young men from its residents, leading to clashes with the residents who attempted to repel the incursion.

Following that, the Israeli occupation forces bombed the village using drones and artillery, according to Al-Hamrawi.

The Syrian news agency also confirmed the displacement of dozens of families from Beit Jann to nearby and safer areas due to the tensions in the region.

Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that the Israeli bombardment caused extensive damage to homes and shops in the town.

For its part, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the "Israeli criminal aggression in Beit Jann that led to clashes due to residents' resistance."

It pointed out that the occupation forces, due to their failure to incurse, targeted Beit Jann with brutal shelling that resulted in a horrific massacre that claimed the lives of children and women, according to its description.

It held the Israeli occupation responsible for the serious aggression, asserting that the continuation of attacks threatens the security of the region.

The Syrian government previously called on the international community to intervene to stop the ongoing Israeli violations since the fall of the Assad regime about a year ago.

The Syrian forces also try to avoid clashing with the Israeli forces that have incursed into border areas to prevent giving excuses for a major military escalation, at a time when the country is trying to regain its strength after 14 years of devastating war, according to analysts who spoke to Al Jazeera.

Analysts stated that the Syrian government is working to conclude a security agreement through intermediaries with Israel to withdraw from the areas it has incursed and announced control over in recent months, considering that it faces "difficult choices" but resorts to "smart diplomacy" to prevent slipping into an "explosion" amid the critical conditions in the region.

However, the Israeli broadcasting authority reported earlier that talks regarding signing a security agreement between Israel and Syria "have reached a dead end," adding that Israeli officials refuse the demand of Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara to withdraw from all Syrian points occupied by the Israeli army about a year ago.

Beit Jann is located at the eastern flank of Mount Hermon in a topographically complex area near the border with the occupied Syrian Golan, and the area is of great strategic importance to Israel, which claims that arms smuggling lines in the area are located near the town.

The operation carried out by the occupation army in Beit Jann early Friday morning is not the first of its kind; on June 12, last year, Israeli forces conducted a nighttime raid on the town, resulting in the death of a civilian and the arrest of 7 individuals.

On August 11 of the previous year, a force consisting of about 100 soldiers incursed Beit Jann and its surroundings.

These Israeli incursions come as part of a broader pattern of violations in several areas, including the arrest of Syrians from Quneitra in southern Syria, and preventing residents from accessing their lands.

According to unofficial estimates, the Israeli army kidnapped about 45 individuals from Syria during its incursions last year, and their fate remains unknown.