Israel admits to ground raid in Syria

The “special operation” was aimed at detaining an Iran-linked “terrorist operative,” the IDF has said

Israel has carried out a ground raid in Syria to detain “a terrorist operative” linked to Iran, the Israeli military said on Sunday. The announcement marks the first time since the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East last year that Israel has admitted to its troops operating on Syrian soil.

The Jewish state has intensified its campaign against Islamist movement Hezbollah in recent weeks, launching a ground offensive in Lebanon and firing missiles at Iran.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not specify when the operation in Syria took place. However, the AP cited a pro-government Syrian radio station as reporting on Sunday that Israeli forces had carried out a “kidnapping operation” over the summer targeting a man in the south of the country.

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The man, named as Syrian citizen Ali Soleiman al-Assi, was detained “during an intelligence-based, special IDF operation,” the Israeli military said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.

Al-Assi, who the IDF claims is an Iranian terror network operative, lived in the area of Saida in southern Syria, roughly 60km from the border with Israel. The Israeli military has accused him of “gathering intelligence on IDF troops in the border area for future terror activity.” 

“The IDF will not allow Iranian proxies in southern Syria to operate and threaten Israeli civilians,” the statement said.

Over the past year, Israel has carried out multiple airstrikes on Syria, targeting members of Hezbollah and Iranian officials. Iran is an ally of both the Shiite movement and Damascus. The IDF has not previously made public any ground forays into the country.

Israel and Hezbollah have sporadically exchanged fire since the Jewish state launched a military operation in Gaza in response to the deadly Hamas incursion on October 7 last year.

Israel significantly escalated its campaign against the Shiite militant group in September, launching Operation Northern Arrows to attack Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry and the IDF claim to have “eliminated” nearly all of Hezbollah’s senior military leaders, including the movement’s long-time secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, and his potential successor, Hashem Safieddine.

In April, Israel conducted an airstrike on the Iranian embassy complex in the Syrian capital Damascus, killing 16 people, including eight officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and two Syrian civilians.

READ MORE: Iran to attack Israel within days – media

In an escalating spiral of violence, Israel conducted a series of strikes against targets in Iran last week, in response to a massive barrage of missiles fired by Iran at the Jewish state in early October. Tehran is reportedly planning to retaliate against Israel before the US presidential election on November 5.