Israeli forces kill 10 in southern Syria operation

 Israeli forces killed 10 people on Friday in an operation in southern Syria, the deadliest since Bashar al-Assad's fall from power nearly a year ago, which they said was targeting an Islamist group. The Israeli army said an exchange of fire in an operation to detain militants from neighbouring Lebanon in the Syrian village of Beit Jin left six Israeli soldiers wounded, three of them in serious condition.

Since an Islamist coalition overthrew longtime ruler Assad in December last year, Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes and incursions into Syria. Syrian state television reported women and children among those killed. "The number of martyrs from the Israeli aggression... has risen to 10, including women and children, while others remain trapped under the rubble," it said.

Dozens of families fled the village to safety in nearby areas, it added. "We were asleep when we were woken up at three in the morning by gunfire," wounded resident Iyad Daher told AFP at a hospital in Damascus around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the village. "We went outside to see what was happening and saw the Israeli army in the village, soldiers and tanks.

Then they withdrew, the air force came, and the shells started falling. I was hit by shrapnel in the neck." The Israeli army said the targets of the operation were fighters from the Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya, which is based in neighbouring Lebanon. "The suspects operated in the area of Beit Jin in southern Syria and advanced terror attacks against Israeli civilians," it said in a statement.

A local official told AFP that Israeli forces raided the village to capture three men, sparking clashes. "Following the clashes, the Israeli occupation forces shelled the area with artillery and drones," said official Abdul Rahman al-Hamrawi. 'Territorial integrity' After Assad's fall in December 2024 and the arrival of the new Islamist leadership in Damascus, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria.

Israel swiftly sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone, which has separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights since 1974. Israel has occupied Syria's Golan Heights, a strategic mountain plateau, since 1967, annexing it in 1981 in a move not recognised by the international community.

Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli troops deployed in the buffer zone, drawing a sharp rebuke from Damascus and others in the region. In a resolution passed on November 6, the UN Security Council reaffirmed its strong backing for Syria's "sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity".

Israel backer the United States has been pushing for a security pact between Syria and Israel, part of President Donald Trump's goal to shore up the fragile Gaza ceasefire with a broader Middle East peace settlement.

While Syrian and Israeli officials have held repeated rounds of talks, President Ahmed al-Sharaa has ruled out Syria joining the Abraham Accords, under which a handful of Arab countries have normalised ties with Israel.

He recently met with Trump and warned in a UN speech that Israel's persistent attacks put the region at risk, but backed diplomacy. "In the face of this aggression, Syria is committed to dialogue," he said. Agence France-Presse