Three Syrian soldiers were killed in an Israeli drone strike near the capital Damascus on Tuesday, August 26, a Syrian defense ministry official told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"An Israeli drone targeted one of the military buildings of the 44th division of the Syrian army in Kiswah, west of Damascus, killing three members of the division," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Earlier in the day, the official SANA news agency reported that "a young man was killed in an Israeli strike on a home in the village of Taranja", on the formerly Syria-controlled side of the armistice line on the Golan Heights.

Syria condemned "the recent Israeli attacks on its territory, which resulted in the martyrdom of a young man", the foreign ministry said. It also condemned the Israeli forces' incursion into a town in the Quneitra countryside, their "arrest campaigns against civilians", and their "announcement of the continuation of their illegal presence on the summit of Mount Hermon and the buffer zone". "These aggressive practices constitute a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law, and relevant Security Council resolutions, and constitute a direct threat to peace and security in the region".

Hundreds of strikes in Syria

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since an Islamist-led alliance toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December. It has also opened talks with the interim authorities in Damascus. Israel has occupied much of a UN-patrolled demilitarized zone on the formerly Syria-controlled side of the armistice line, including the summit of Mount Hermon, the region's highest peak.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had carried out "several activities last week in southern Syria to locate weapons and apprehend suspects".

Last week, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Paris to push for a return to the arrangements that had been in place since a 1974 disengagement agreement.