Israeli drone strikes kill 8 Syrian soldiers in Damascus suburb, officials say

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Israeli drone strikes on a southern suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus killed eight soldiers and wounded others, officials and a war monitor reported Wednesday.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that drone strikes Tuesday in the southern Damascus suburb of Kiswah killed eight soldiers. It called the attack “a grave violation of international law” and “clear breach of (Syria’s) sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“It also comes in the context of the repeated aggressive policies pursued by the Israeli occupation aimed at undermining security and stability in the region,” the statement said.

The Israeli military did not comment on the strikes.

Late Wednesday evening, Syrian state news agency SANA reported more Israeli strikes and an airdrop commando raid in the area, “the details of which are not known.”

SANA reported that the initial strikes on Tuesday had targeted soldiers who, while on patrol, discovered “surveillance and eavesdropping devices.” Ongoing strikes prevented other troops from reaching the area until the following evening. Other soldiers were able to retrieve the bodies of those killed the day before and to “destroy some of the (surveillance) systems by targeting them with the appropriate weapons,” it said.

Since the fall of Bashar Assad in December, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on different parts of the country, destroying Syrian army assets, and its forces have seized a U.N. patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria.

The new authorities in Damascus have said they do not want a conflict with Israel, but Israel has remained suspicious of the government led by former Islamist insurgents.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a post on X on Tuesday that Israeli forces will remain indefinitely “in the security zone necessary to protect the Golan and Galilee settlements from threats looming from the Syrian side.” Katz said the deployment was a result of lessons drawn from the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes hit a point that links Damascus with the southern province of Sweida that witnessed deadly clashes last month between pro-government gunmen and fighters from Syria’s Druze minority.

Israel intervened during the fighting last month on the side of the Druze, who form a substantial community in Israel, where they are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the Israeli military. Katz said in his post that the Israeli military “will continue to protect the Druze in Syria as well.”

The Observatory added that the area struck Tuesday had military posts for Assad’s military before his fall almost nine months ago.

The Observatory said there were several strikes on the area, including one that hit after paramedics arrived. In addition to the six soldiers killed, three people were wounded, it added.

Earlier Tuesday, an Israeli drone strike near the southern town of Quneitra killed one person, according to Al-Ikhbariah and the Observatory.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the strike near Quneitra, saying it violates international law and threatens peace and stability in the region.