Israel said it targeted a “terrorist” in southern Syria on Saturday in what Syria’s foreign ministry said was a drone strike on a civilian vehicle on the outskirts of Damascus in a “blatant” violation of its territory.
– The Syrian foreign ministry said the drone had hit a civilian car on a road near Beit Jinn village in the countryside west of the capital, which caused injuries amongst civilians.
– Syrian state TV reported one person was injured.
– The Israeli military said in a statement that it fired in southern Syria toward what it described as a terrorist, whose activity posed an immediate threat to its soldiers. It did not say how it fired.
– Tensions between Israel and Syria flared up this week after Israel bombed an airbase in the northwest on Tuesday, an escalation U.S. special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, called “unnecessary.”
– Syria’s foreign ministry said the strike was part of a pattern of repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, and was a “blatant violation” of its sovereignty. It held Israel accountable for the consequences of such actions.
– Israeli troops continue to operate in southern Syria, and Israel occupies territory in southwest Syria it seized after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.