Damascus (TDI): An Israeli raid on a Syrian village near the border on Friday left at least 13 people dead, according to Syrian authorities, who denounced the assault as a criminal act.
The incident unfolded in Beit Jinn, where Israeli troops carried out an incursion that led to fierce clashes with residents.
The Israeli military said that six of its soldiers were injured during the operation, three of them seriously. Israel has long targeted areas inside Syria, previously under Assad’s rule and even more aggressively after his removal, arguing that it seeks to prevent armed groups from approaching its frontier.
Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that Israeli forces shelled the village before ground troops moved in. Residents attempted to resist the incursion, triggering what it described as “intense confrontations.” Officials in Damascus said that more than ten civilians, among them women and children, were killed, and that homes and property suffered extensive damage. They further accused Israel of committing a “war crime.”
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Najat Rochdi, the UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, condemned the Israeli operation, calling it an unacceptable violation of Syria’s sovereignty that risks further destabilising the region.
In a separate development, three Palestinians were wounded on Friday as Israeli forces continued operations in the Far’a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported evacuating the injured from Tubas.
Reports from local media also said that Israeli tank fire wounded a child in Rafah. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have begun demolishing homes in the Jenin refugee camp, following earlier warnings that 24 structures would be torn down for what the military described as “operational needs.”
The UN human rights office expressed outrage over the killing of two Palestinian men in Jenin a day earlier, saying video and witness accounts indicated the men appeared to be surrendering when they were shot dead.
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Jeremy Laurence, the UN rights office spokesperson, called the incident “another apparent summary execution” and said UN rights chief Volker Türk was urging independent investigations and accountability for violations carried out in the occupied West Bank.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, the E4, issued a joint statement demanding that Israel comply with international law and ensure the protection of Palestinians in the West Bank.
They strongly condemned the sharp rise in attacks by Israeli settlers, which they said have reached levels not seen in nearly twenty years, and urged steps to stabilise the deteriorating situation.
