On Friday night, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers operating in a buffer zone in southern Syria came under fire, the army said
It was the first incident since Israeli troops were deployed to the area following the fall of the Assad regime last month.
The Israeli army said the soldiers returned fire.
There were no injuries among the Israelis, the military statement said.
The incident marks the first time such an incident has occurred since Israeli forces deployed to the buffer zone on the Israel-Syria border following the fall of the Assad regime.
Israel initially described the move as a temporary measure to prevent hostile actors from taking advantage of the power vacuum and seizing control of strategic territory, threatening Israel.
On Saturday morning, the Syrian Resistance, an organization linked to the former Syrian regime, claimed responsibility for the attack, a Lebanese media outlet affiliated with Hezbollah reported.
The group said it had “started its operations against the Israeli enemy, along with operations against the terrorist gangs of al-Julani,” referring to the new Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, by his pseudonym.
According to the Al-Akhbar newspaper, the Syrian Resistance also said it “will not allow Israel to occupy our land.
We will ambush both Israel and the gangs of al-Julani with precise ambushes and surprise attacks.” The IDF confirmed the previous night that its soldiers had responded to the fire, with no Israeli injuries.
On Wednesday, the new Syrian authorities called for Israel’s withdrawal from Syrian territory during talks with the head of a UN observer force, state media reported.
During Jean-Pierre Lacroix’s meeting with Syria’s foreign and defense ministers, “it was confirmed that Syria is ready to cooperate fully with the UN,” the official SANA news agency reported.
Syria also said it was ready to redeploy its forces to the Golan in accordance with a 1974 agreement establishing a buffer zone, “provided that Israeli forces withdraw immediately,” SANA added.
Israel captured most of the Golan from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War, before which several Arab armies planned an invasion of Israel.
Jerusalem annexed the area in 1981, in a move recognized only by the United States.
The UN-patrolled buffer zone was created to keep Israeli and Syrian forces separate.
Forces loyal to Assad’s government abandoned their positions in southern Syria before the rebel groups reached Damascus, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say there was a “vacuum on Israel’s border.” The United Nations considers Israel’s occupation of the buffer zone a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement.
Israel argues that the deal has collapsed because one side is no longer in a position to implement it.
Published in 02/01/2025 10h01
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.
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