Israel attacks on Syria: What happened, who did Israel claim it was after?

On Friday, Israel killed astatine slightest 13 people, including 2 children, successful the Damascus countryside municipality of Beit Jinn.

The latest aerial raids came aft locals tried to repel an Israeli subject incursion into Beit Jinn, starring to clashes.

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Israel claimed it was going aft members of the Jamaa al-Islamiya, Lebanon’s subdivision of the Muslim Brotherhood.

However, rubbishing the Israeli claim, the radical said it was not progressive extracurricular Lebanon.

Here’s everything you request to cognize astir the onslaught successful Beit Jinn and the discourse down it.

What happened?

The Israeli army’s 55th Reserve Brigade raided Beit Jinn successful the aboriginal hours of Friday morning, ostensibly to instrumentality 3 Syrians who unrecorded there, claiming they were members of Jamaa al-Islamiya and that they posed a “danger to Israel”.

However, the incursion did not spell to plan. Locals resisted, and six Israeli soldiers were wounded successful the resulting clashes, 3 of them seriously, according to the Israeli army.

Israel past sent successful its warplanes.

“We were dormant erstwhile we were woken up astatine 3 successful the greeting by gunfire,” Iyad Daher, a wounded resident, told the AFP quality bureau from al-Mouwasat Hospital successful Damascus.

“We went extracurricular to spot what was happening and saw the Israeli service successful the village, soldiers and tanks,” Daher said. “Then they withdrew, the aerial unit came – and the shells started falling.”

This was the deadliest of Israel’s much than 1,000 strikes connected Syria since the autumn of the Assad regime

Why were Israeli forces successful Syria?

This was not the archetypal clip Israel raided Syrian territory.

Israeli officials and government-aligned media accidental Israel tin nary longer respect its enemies’ borders oregon let “hostile” groups on its borders aft the Hamas-led onslaught connected October 7, 2023, and Israel has sought to usage unit successful different countries to make buffer zones astir itself, successful the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon.

Since the autumn of the Assad authorities past December, Israel has launched predominant aerial raids crossed Syria and crushed incursions successful its south. It acceptable up galore checkpoints successful Syria and detained and disappeared Syrian citizens from Syrian territory, holding them illegally successful Israel.

It invaded the buffer portion that separated the 2 countries since they signed the 1974 disengagement agreement, mounting up outposts astir Jabal al-Sheikh (Mount Hermon successful English).

The caller Syrian government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, said it would abide by the 1974 agreement.

Israel occupied the Syrian Golan Heights successful 1967. A demilitarised portion was aboriginal established, but erstwhile President Bashar al-Assad was ousted, and his service was successful shambles, Israel invaded to instrumentality outposts connected Syrian-controlled land.

What did the Syrian authorities say?

That the onslaught is simply a warfare crime.

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement, condemning “the transgression onslaught carried retired by an Israeli concern service patrol successful Beit Jinn. The concern forces’ targeting of the municipality of Beit Jinn with brutal and deliberate shelling, pursuing their failed incursion, constitutes a full-fledged warfare crime.”

What is Israel claiming?

Israel’s nationalist broadcaster said the cognition was an “arrest raid” targeting Jamaa al-Islamiya members.

An Israeli service spokesperson said 3 radical linked to the radical were “arrested”.

Israel claims the radical is operating successful confederate Syria to “recruit terrorists” and plays a relation successful what it calls the “northern front” – Israel’s bluish borderline with Lebanon.

Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid reported from Syria that Israel has yet to connection immoderate impervious of the assertion that the radical it was aft were progressive with the group.

What is Jamaa al-Islamiya?

The radical is the Lebanese subdivision of the Muslim Brotherhood.

It was founded successful 1956 and has a unchangeable beingness successful Lebanon, though it has ne'er been arsenic fashionable arsenic immoderate of its determination counterparts.

It has 1 subordinate of parliament and was historically aligned with the Future Movement, founded by erstwhile Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

However, the radical moved person to Iran and Hezbollah politically successful caller years. Its equipped wing, the Fajr Forces, took portion successful immoderate operations against Israel successful 2023-24.

After Israel’s claims that it was progressive successful confederate Syria, the radical released a connection connected Friday stating that it was “surprised” Israeli media had progressive it successful what happened successful Beit Jinn.

Denouncing the attack, it said it conducts “no activities extracurricular Lebanon”.

The radical added that it has abided by and committed to the ceasefire statement from November 2024 betwixt Lebanon and Israel.

Has Israel claimed it was attacking this radical before?

Yes.

In March 2024, Israel attacked al-Habbariyeh successful confederate Lebanon, killing 7 exigency alleviation volunteers.

It claimed the onslaught targeted a subordinate of the group, calling him a “significant terrorist”.

However, the alleged people was ne'er named, the manager of the Lebanese Emergency and Relief Corps’ Ambulance Association told Al Jazeera.