Israel strikes Syria near Damascus, killing several in 'international law violation'

Israel carried out an airstrike on the Syrian village of Beit Jinn, located southwest of the capital Damascus, according to Syrian authorities. The attack hit a civilian vehicle and left several people injured, officials said. Syria condemned the strike as a "violation" of its sovereignty and international law.

Israeli military claims it targeted a terrorist

The Israeli military, in a post on X, said it had struck a "terrorist" who was in the "final stages" of preparing an attack that posed an immediate threat to Israeli soldiers. The strike was the second confirmed Israeli operation inside Syria in the space of a single week.

US had rebuked Israel over earlier strike

Days before the Beit Jinn attack, Israel struck the Abu al-Duhur military airbase — which sits approximately 70 kilometres from the Turkish border — prompting a rare public rebuke from Washington. The US called the earlier strike an "unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability." US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack suggested Israel may have been trying to "bait the Turks."

Israel's far-right Defence Minister Israel Katz rejected Barrack's account as "full of inaccuracies," insisting Israeli forces were acting on "clear intelligence information about Turkey's intentions." Israel has occupied parts of southwestern Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government in December 2024, and has struck dozens of Syrian military targets since then.