Israeli troops operating in southern Syria came under fire Tuesday by a group of armed men, the Israel Defense Forces said, while local media reported that several Syrians had been killed in the exchange of fire.
Israeli soldiers were unharmed.
In a short statement, the military said that gunmen opened fire on Israeli forces operating near the southern city of Daraa. “The troops returned fire in response, and the Israeli Air Force struck them,” the military said. “Hits were identified.”
Local authorities reported that the Israeli shelling had killed at least five people in Kuya village, close to Daraa. There were also reports of ground forces operating in the area.
Residents of the village had fled the Israeli fire, authorities added.
Israeli troops have been stationed inside the buffer zone along the Israel-Syria border since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024.
The IDF describes its presence in the buffer zone, which was manned by UN peacekeepers until the Assad regime’s ouster, as a temporary and defensive measure, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that troops would remain there for “an unlimited period of time” to maintain Israel’s security.
Netanyahu has also said that Israel demands the “full demilitarization of southern Syria from troops of the new Syrian regime in the Quneitra, Daraa and Suweyda provinces.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF announced that it had struck targets at two airbases in Syria, the latest strikes targeting military sites linked to the former Assad regime.
The strikes were carried out at the Palmyra and T-4 airbases in the province of Homs, which has repeatedly been hit because of its role in regional weapon smuggling.
In a statement, the military said that it targeted “remaining military capabilities” at the airfields, after hitting them both with an initial round of bombings days earlier.
“The IDF will continue to act to remove any threat to Israeli citizens,” it added.
The initial strikes, carried out overnight on March 21, were described by military sources as “extensive,” and were said to have taken out capabilities that would ensure the preservation of Israel’s aerial superiority in the region.
Two Syrian defense personnel were wounded in the initial strike at Palmyra, according to local media.
Following the collapse of Assad’s regime to Islamist-led rebels in December, Israel has vowed to destroy weapons in Syria it fears could fall into the hands of “hostile forces” that may seek to attack it.
The strikes in Syria have drawn condemnation and concern, including from Syria’s interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, as well as the European Union.
On Monday, during a visit to Jerusalem, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned that Israeli strikes on Syria, as well as on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, were threatening to worsen the situation.
“Military actions must be proportionate, and Israeli strikes into Syria and Lebanon risk further escalation,” Kallas said at a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
“We feel that these things are unnecessary because Syria is right now not attacking Israel, and that feeds more radicalization that is also against Israel,” Kallas told journalists.
While Assad’s fall brought an end to the country’s more than decade-long civil war, a renewed wave of sectarian violence sparked fears that the new government would not be able to effectively keep the peace in Syria.
Israeli leaders have consistently stated that they do not trust Sharaa, whom Defense Minister Israel Katz has called an “extreme Islamic leader.” Sharaa, who previously used the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani, headed the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which began as the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, though he has since sought to distance himself from the jihadist terror group.
Sharaa has dismissed Israel’s threats and Katz’s comments as “nonsense,” and his government has denounced Israel’s continued strikes in the country, as well as the IDF’s presence in a buffer zone in southern Syria.