IDF: Syria raid destroys Jamaa Islamiya weapons depot

Israeli forces destroyed a weapons depot belonging to the Jamaa Islamiya terrorist group during an overnight raid in southern Syria last week, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday, describing the strike as part of ongoing efforts to thwart attacks on northern Israeli communities.

The IDF said troops located and dismantled firearms, land mines and communications gear at a storage site in the Beit Jinn area, opposite the Israeli Golan Heights.

The military described Jamaa Islamiya as a group that has advanced attacks against Israel and its civilians throughout the war, and said the raid was aimed at protecting residents in the north. Jamaa Islamiya is a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated terrorist organization which maintains close relations with Hamas.

Videos released by the army show Israeli soldiers operating inside the facility and finding the arms cache and explosives demolishing parts of the compound.

Israeli troops arrested a senior terrorist from Jamaa Islamiya during a targeted raid in Southern Lebanon overnight Sunday, the military announced on Monday.

In late November, a counter-terrorism raid, also in the Beit Jinn area, which sought to apprehend Jamaa Islamiya operatives, left six Israeli soldiers wounded, three of them seriously.

Seven months earlier, in April, an Israeli Air Force strike in Lebanon killed Hussein Izzat Mohammad Atwi, a top Jamaa Islamiya operative.

According to the IDF, Atwi was a key figure in advancing terrorist activity against Israel from Lebanese territory, including rocket fire, infiltration attempts and coordinating terrorist infrastructure along the border.