One person was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting the village of Tarnaja in northern Quneitra countryside in southern Syria, amid repeated Israeli incursions into the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights. Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites in Syria, justifying them as efforts to prevent the new authorities from acquiring military arsenals. Israeli forces have also advanced into the demilitarized zone on the edges of the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights and occasionally penetrate deeper into southern Syria. The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli incursion in the Beit Jinn area, where Israeli forces took control of a strategic hill at the foot of Mount Hermon, calling it a blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty.

The Israeli army announced it conducted several night operations last week in southern Syria to search for weapons and suspects, confiscating stores of rockets, explosives, machine guns, and large amounts of ammunition. Syria and Israel remain officially at war since 1948. Transitional President Ahmed Al-Shar’a has stated Syria does not seek escalation with its neighbors and called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop its attacks. Both sides are engaged in direct negotiations mediated by the United States to reduce tensions. Last week, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Sheibani met Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Paris. According to SANA, discussions are part of diplomatic efforts to enhance security and stability in Syria and preserve its territorial integrity.