Israeli attack in rural Damascus: 13 killed

Nov 28, 2025
International

Photo: Occupied Golan Heights, Syria (Collected. Al Jazeera. Screenshot/Al Jazeera)

International Desk, PNN

A new Israeli ground and air operation in the rural areas of Damascus, the capital of Syria, has killed at least 13 people. According to Syrian state media, several of the dead were children. At least 25 others were injured. Reports indicate that some Israeli soldiers were also injured during resistance by locals.

Early Friday morning, Israeli forces launched a sudden raid in various parts of Beit Jinn city, causing hundreds of families to flee their homes for safety. The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack as a “direct war crime.”

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that the bodies of five people, including two children, were taken to Al-Salam Hospital in Quneitra. Syrian Civil Defense could not enter Beit Jinn due to ongoing drone strikes and gunfire, noting that any movement in the area became a target.

Local sources stated that, after failing in the ground operation, Israeli forces began heavy shelling, causing numerous civilian casualties. Following the attack, clashes occurred between local resistance groups, civilians, and the Israeli army.

The Israeli military said in a social media statement that six of their soldiers were injured in the clash, three critically. They claimed the “operation was completed” and that those targeted were “arrested or killed.”

However, Israeli media Yedioth Ahronoth reported that an Israeli unit involved in the operation became trapped in Beit Jinn. To extract them, airstrikes and shelling were intensified, resulting in many Syrian civilian casualties.

Since the 1967 war, Israel has occupied a large portion of the Golan Heights. Following Bashar al-Assad’s fall in 2024, Israel advanced further, expanding a new “buffer zone.” Syria alleges that Israel has taken advantage of this aggression to establish new checkpoints, patrols, and gates along the border, and has abducted or detained around 40 Syrians in recent weeks.

Israeli political analyst Akiva Eldar told Al Jazeera that Israel sees any instability along the border as an excuse to create a “new security zone.”

This attack presents a new crisis for the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaar, who came to power after Assad’s fall during the December 2024 uprising. The country is still dealing with civil war scars and sectarian tensions. In a speech on the first anniversary of the uprising, Sharaar called for unity among Syrians in reconstruction, but the large-scale attack occurred the very next day.