Israeli bombardment killed at least 11 people in Syria as Israeli forces carried out another incursion in the southwest, Daraa’s provincial authorities said on Thursday.
The Israeli incursion saw “the occupation forces advancing for the first time to this depth”, according to a statement from the Daraa provincial government posted to Telegram.
Israeli military vehicles entered Daraa Province and parts of Quneitra before withdrawing after shelling areas in the city of Nawa, resulting in deaths and injuries.
“The Israeli occupation army is invading with several military vehicles into the Al-Jabaliya Dam forest near the city of Nawa, west of Daraa, and this coincided with reconnaissance aircraft flying over the area,” the Daraa Provincial Government said.Â
It added that the Israeli army targeted the slopes of Tel al-Jumu’ near the city of Nawa with three artillery shells.
A group of media and human rights activists in southern Syria said in a report issued early on Thursday that the death toll is expected to rise with a large number of wounded in Nawa Hospital, some of whom are in critical condition.
Reports also indicated that local armed groups in Daraa Governorate confronted the Israeli military convoy near the al-Jabaliyah dam west of the city of Nawa in western rural Daraa, after the convoy advanced toward Tel al-Jumu’.
Israel claims it carried out an operation in southern Syria and “confiscated combat equipment and destroyed terrorist infrastructure”.
On Wednesday evening, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted the vicinity of the Scientific Research Centre building in the Barzeh Housing District in Damascus.
Israeli planes also bombed a military airport in Hama in central Syria.
Hama Governorate, in a statement on its Telegram channel, said that “the Israeli occupation air force targeted Hama Military Airport and its surroundings in central Syria with more than 15 airstrikes”.
The statement noted that the damage was limited to material losses.
Israel also dropped leaflets on residents of the strategic town of Koya in Daraa province, warning them that it is “forbidden for armed individuals to move around in the village and its surroundings”, also telling them that they are “forbidden from crossing the valley of Al-Shari‘a toward the Yarmouk Basin”.
Last week, Israel launched deadly strikes on Koya, killing at least five people.
Message to Turkey
On Thursday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Syria that if forces hostile to Israel are allowed to enter it will pay a heavy price, without elaborating on what forces he means.Â
Reports in Israeli media claim the strikes are meant to send a message to Turkey, regarding Ankara’s plans to build a military base in the country .
“Do not establish a military base in the Syria and do not interfere with Israeli activity in the country’s skies,” was the message Israel was sending to Turkey according to an Israeli military official quoted by The Jerusalem Post.
Almost as soon a Syrian rebel coalition overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel exploited the situation by seizing Syrian territory adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights in southwestern Syria.
Since then, it has unleashed unprecedented airstrikes on Syrian targets, killing dozens of civilians and destroying key infrastructure in the country. It has also issued numerous threats against the Syrian government, warning its security forces to stay out of the south.Â
Tel Aviv has also said it wants Syria to be split along ethnic and sectarian lines, attempting to appeal to Syria’s minorities to turn against the Syrian government, which it has called “jihadist”.Â
Meanwhile, Israeli forces are investigating a rabbi who visited Syria earlier this week. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner visited parts of the occupied Golan Heights, which was authorised by military officials but later found that he did not have the approval of those qualified to do so, according to Israeli media.
While in the occupied territory Aviner allegedly gave a speech saying that Syria belonged to Israel, saying that “Jerusalem would extend until the gates of Damascus,” according to Israel National News.Â
