Israeli forces kill 13 in southern Syria operation

Damascus (AFP) - Israeli forces killed 13 people on Friday in an operation in southern Syria, the deadliest since the fall of Bashar al-Assad about a year ago, which they said targeted an Islamic group.

Since an Islamic coalition ousted the long-time ruler Assad in December of last year, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in addition to incursions into Syria.

The Israeli army stated that the exchange of fire during the operation to arrest militants in the village of Beit Jinn resulted in the injury of six Israeli soldiers, three of whom are in serious condition.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the operation as a "war crime" and accused Israel of trying to "ignite the region."

The death toll rose to 13 later on Friday morning, according to the health director for the Damascus governorate, Tawfiq Hasaba, who was cited by the official news agency SANA, after state television earlier reported that 10 had been killed.

State television reported that women and children were among the dead, with some residents remaining trapped under the rubble and dozens of families displaced to safety.

An AFP journalist saw several injured individuals being transported to a hospital in Damascus, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the village.

"We were sleeping when we woke up at three in the morning to the sound of gunfire," said injured resident Iyad Daher to AFP at Al-Mouwasat Hospital in the Syrian capital.

"We went out to see what was happening and saw the Israeli army in the village, soldiers and tanks. Then they withdrew, and the air force came, and the shells started falling. I was hit by shrapnel in my neck."

The Israeli army stated that the targets of the operation were fighters from the Islamic group, which is based in neighboring Lebanon.

"The suspects were operating in the Beit Jinn area in southern Syria and carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians," it said in a statement.

A local official told AFP that Israeli forces raided the village to arrest three men, sparking clashes.

"After the clashes, the Israeli occupation forces bombarded the area with artillery and drones," said village official Abdul Rahman Al-Hamrawi.

"Territorial integrity"

Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, stated that Friday's operation was "the deadliest incursion since Israel began conducting operations outside the buffer zone in southern Syria."

Israel has sent forces to the UN-monitored buffer zone, which separates Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights since 1974, following the fall of Assad.

Israel has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights, a strategic plateau, since 1967 and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized by the international community.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli forces deployed in the buffer zone, drawing sharp criticism from Damascus and others in the region.

The Prime Minister previously insisted on the need for disarmament in southern Syria following Assad's ousting.

In a decision passed on November 6, the UN Security Council reaffirmed its strong support for "the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and national unity of Syria."

The United States, Israel's main supporter, is pushing for a security agreement between Syria and Israel, as part of President Donald Trump's goal to bolster the fragile ceasefire in Gaza through a broader peace settlement in the Middle East.

While Syrian and Israeli officials have held repeated rounds of talks, President Ahmad al-Shara excluded Syria from joining the Abraham Accords, under which several Arab countries normalized relations with Israel.

He recently met with Trump and warned in a speech before the UN that ongoing attacks from Israel put the region at risk, but he supported diplomacy.

"In the face of this aggression, Syria is committed to dialogue," he said.