Israeli attack on Syria’s Dara’a province kills seven civilians

Lebanon’s pan-Arab al-Mayadeen television news channel reported that the victims were killed as Israeli forces shelled Kuwaya village, located west of the provincial capital of Dara’a, on Tuesday.

There are also reports that Israeli ground forces are operating in the area.

Local media outlets are reporting that the assault has caused “a state of fear and panic” in the village.

Omar al-Hariri, an independent journalist based in Dara’a, dismissed Israeli military’s allegations that the regime troops were attacked in southern Syria, and they returned fire.

“The truth is that they (Israeli forces) initiated the aggression by attempting to arrest youths from Kuwaya, who resisted this patrol,” he wrote in a post published on X social media platform.

The journalist added that the Israeli army has also ordered all residents to evacuate the village immediately.

Earlier, Israeli warplanes had carried out airstrikes against two military facilities once belonging to ousted president Bashar al-Assad's army but now used by the forces of Syria's new authorities in the central province of Homs.

Israeli jets struck the Palmyra Military Airport and the Tiyas Air Base. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The attack came only a few days after Israeli military aircraft launched similar strikes on these same airfields.

On December 8, 2024, militant groups, spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, overthrew Assad’s administration.

Following the downfall of Assad's regime, the Israeli military has been conducting airstrikes, targeting military installations, facilities, and arsenals associated with Syria's former army.

Israel has faced significant criticism for its decision to terminate the 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, and taking advantage of the turmoil in the Arab nation following Assad's ouster, to make a land grab.

The United Nations has denounced the persistent Israeli assaults within Syrian territory, as well as the ongoing breaches occurring in and around the buffer zone established by the 1974 ceasefire agreement with Damascus.