Smoke rises from an Israeli strike on southwest Syria, June 3, 2025

Israel’s Airstrikes on Damascus Amid Tension in Southern Syria

UPDATE, JUNE 12:

Israeli troops raided a village in southern Syria overnight, detaining several people.

The Israel Defense Forces claimed the men from Beit Jinn, around 6 km (4 miles) from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, are Hamas operatives.

“Following intelligence collected in recent weeks, IDF troops carried out a pinpoint nighttime operation in Syria and arrested several terrorists from the Hamas terror organization, who tried to advance many terror attacks against Israeli citizens and IDF troops in Syria,” the military asserted.

The IDF said the men were brought to Israel to be interrogated by the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504.

A Syrian Interior Ministry spokesperson said one person was killed by Israeli fire and seven people were arrested. He said the detainees are civilians with no links to Hamas.

The Israeli military said that when one man tried to flee, shots were fired and “a hit was identified”.

Expanding Israel’s occupation, the IDF has been deployed to nine posts inside southern Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Most are within a buffer zone which is supposed to be monitored by the UN.

ORIGINAL ENTRY, JUNE 4:

Israel has inflicted “significant human and material losses” in airstrikes on Daraa Province in southern Syria, says the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Israeli military said it was responding to two projectiles that fell in open areas in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday.

Iran-linked militia Kataib Awli al-Bass, which first appeared in February, claimed responsibility for the firing of the rockets. A purported Hamas-linked faction, named after the slain commander Mohammad Deif, also declared involvement.

But Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “We consider the president of Syria directly responsible for any threat and fire towards the State of Israel, and a full response will come soon.”

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said Damascus will not pose a threat to anyone: “We believe that there are many parties that may seek to destabilize the region to achieve their own interests.”

The Government says it seized three shipments of 122mm Grad rockets by traffickers linked to Lebanon’s Hezbollah in the past 10 days. Heavy machine guns, anti-tank missiles, MANPADS, RPGs, and ammunition were also confiscated.

Israel has continued its airstrikes across Syria after the fall of the Assad regime in early December. Israeli ground forces have expanded their area of occupation in southwest Syria.

The Israeli strikes eased this spring as the US established relations with the Syrian Government and lifted sanctions. But the attacks have escalated in recent days.

US to Sharply Reduce Military Presence

The US will reduce its military presence in Syria from eight bases to one, says Donald Trump’s envoy Thomas Barrack.

Barrack, the US Ambassador to Turkey, confirmed the drawdown in an interview with broadcaster NTV late Monday.

The US military has around 2,000 troops in Syria, most of them in the northeast. They have been working with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State.

Two security sources on bases where US troops are deployed said military equipment and vehicles had already moved out of eastern Deir ez-Zor Province and are being consolidated in neighboring Hasakah. One source said all US troops in Deir ez-Zor will withdraw.

Last week Barrack met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and raised the American flag over US Ambassador’s residence in Damascus for the first time since 2012.

He said in the interview, “What I can assure you is that our current Syria policy will not be close to the Syria policy of the last 100 years, because none of these have worked.”

He said the SDF remains a “very important factor” for the US Congress, and directing them to integrate into a new Syrian military is important.

With Turkey considering the Syrian Kurds as a foe, the envoy said, “Everyone needs to be reasonable in their expectations.”