Israeli Forces Kill 13 in Syria Raid   11/28 06:14

   

   DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Israeli forces in southern Syria raided a village 
and opened fire when they were confronted by residents on Friday, killing at 
least 13, Syrian officials said, as Israel fights on a number of fronts while 
the shaky ceasefire in Gaza moves forward.

   Syria's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that the attack was "a 
horrific massacre" and that women and children were among those killed.

   The Syrian state news agency SANA said Israeli forces entered the village of 
Beit Jin aiming to detain local men and opened heavy fire after being 
confronted by residents. Dozens of families fled the area.

   Israel said Friday it conducted an operation following intelligence 
information to apprehend suspects from Jamaa Islamiya, or Islamic Group, 
operating in Beit Jin to attack Israeli civilians. During the raid, several 
militants fired at Israeli troops, injuring half a dozen soldiers who were 
evacuated to a hospital, the military said.

   Israeli troops fired at the militants and also responded with aerial 
assistance, the military said. It said the operation had concluded, all of the 
suspects were apprehended and a number of militants were killed.

   Israel has regarded the new authorities in Syria warily since the fall of 
former President Bashar Assad in a lightning offensive led by Islamist 
insurgents in December 2024. Since Assad's fall, Israeli forces have seized a 
formerly U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria set up under a 1974 
disengagement agreement. Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian 
military sites, and pushed for a demilitarized zone south of Damascus.

   The two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations, have been 
negotiating a potential security agreement to deescalate.

   Syrian officials have condemned the Israeli incursions as a violation of 
Syria's sovereignty. On Friday the government called for the international 
community to take "urgent action" to halt Israeli incursions.

   A local official in the village, Walid Okasha, told The Associated Press 
that those killed were civilians, and one of them had celebrated his wedding 
the day before.

   "The situation is miserable," he said.

   In a previous raid on Beit Jin in June, Israeli forces captured several 
people who they said were Hamas members -- a characterization disputed by 
residents -- and killed a man whose family said had a history of schizophrenia.

   Ongoing conflicts in the region have fueled concerns that unrest could spill 
over and undermine the fragile truce in Gaza.

   The deaths in Syria followed a series of strikes by Israel's air force in 
parts of southern Lebanon on Thursday. Israel says its ongoing strikes are 
aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding after a devastating war last year 
ended with a ceasefire.

   The United Nations on Tuesday said Israel had killed at least 127 civilians, 
including children, in its strikes on Lebanon since the ceasefire a year ago. 
Things escalated earlier this week with a rare strike in Lebanon's capital, 
Beirut, killing a senior Hezbollah official whom Israel described as the 
group's chief of staff.