The Israel Defense Forces targeted a Hamas terrorist in southern Syria in a drone strike on Sunday, according to the military.
The strike occurred in the area of Mazraat Beit Jinn, east of Mount Hermon and just beyond the expanded buffer zone held by Israel.
On June 3, terrorists in southern Syria fired two rockets at the Israeli Golan Heights. Both projectiles struck open areas in the southern Golan, causing no injuries or damage, according to the IDF. It was the first rocket attack from Syria since May 2024.
Israeli officials held the new Syrian government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa responsible. The IDF responded by firing artillery at the launch site and deploying fighter jets to attack Syrian regime weapons systems in southern Syria.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned al-Sharaa that Israel would “not allow a return to the reality of Oct. 7,” and that a “full response will come soon” if attacks continued.
Two obscure groups, the Martyr Muhammed Deif Brigades and the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria–Pioneers of Strength, claimed responsibility for the launches.
On May 7, al-Sharaa said that his government was engaged in indirect talks with Jerusalem aimed at de-escalating tensions between the two countries, following a series of Israeli airstrikes in the wake of Syrian president Bashar Assad’s ouster.
Since the fall of the Iranian- and Russian-backed Assad regime on Dec. 8, 2024, Israel has taken up positions inside and beyond the Golan Heights buffer zone, including on the strategic Syrian side of Mount Hermon. The Israeli Air Force has conducted hundreds of strikes on former Assad military assets to prevent them from falling into the hands of hostile forces.
Al-Sharaa was a leading figure in Al-Qaeda before founding Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the overthrow of the Assad regime.
