TEHRAN – Iran firmly condemns the Israeli regime’s recent air and ground aggression against areas in southern Syria, where a large number of Syrian nationals have been killed.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei reiterated the inherent right of regional countries to defend their territorial integrity and national sovereignty against Israeli aggression, saying, “Syrian resistance to Israeli forces is a natural reaction to aggression.”
On Friday, Israel attacked the town of Beit Zin on the outskirts of Damascus with helicopters and drones after regime forces entered the town, killing at least 13 Syrians and wounding 20 others.
After a fierce two-hour firefight, Israeli soldiers were forced to retreat from Beit Zin and redeployed to the Butt al-Warda hills on the outskirts of town.
Israeli media confirmed that six regime forces were injured in the clash, three of them seriously, and said occupation forces were caught in a “sudden ambush” that caused soldiers to become disoriented and resulted in the intervention of additional reserve forces along with fighter jets to open a safe passage.
According to an unsourced report from the regime’s Channel 13, the Israeli military may move to conduct fewer abductions near the border and instead increase airstrikes to eliminate suspects.
Israel is reportedly preparing for a possible attack from Syria, which has condemned the Israeli invasion as a “war crime.”
Syria’s Interim Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it “condemns the Israeli regime’s criminal aggression”, adding that such actions are aimed at “ignoring the region” with conflict.
The violent attack came a day after Israeli forces launched a new ground invasion into the village of Umm al-Ruqas in the countryside of the southwestern city of Quneitra.
State news agency SANA said an Israeli army unit consisting of four vehicles entered the village and raided houses before retreating.
Since the fall of the Assad regime last year, Israel has repeatedly carried out acts of aggression across Syrian territory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his forces to advance deep into Syrian territory and capture several strategic locations.
Analysts believe that in lieu of resistance to ongoing Israeli military operations, the HTS-led administration’s lack of action and normalization overtures to Tel Aviv appear to have given Israel greater latitude to expand its occupation and increase the intensity of its airstrikes.
Foreign-backed militants led by HTS, a group formerly aligned with al-Qaeda, took control of Damascus and declared the end of Assad’s regime in December.