Israeli military says it arrested Hamas members in Syria

Israeli troops entered southwestern Syria in the early hours of Thursday and arrested several people who the Israeli military said were members of Palestinian militant group Hamas but which Syria’s interior ministry said were civilians.

The arrests in the town of Beit Jinn, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the capital Damascus, are part of a resurgence in Israeli military operations in southern Syria after weeks of relative quiet.

The Israeli military said its nighttime operation in Beit Jinn was “based on intelligence gathered in recent weeks” and led to the arrest of “several Hamas terrorists” planning “multiple terror plots” against Israeli civilians and Israeli troops in Syria.

The military’s statement said it had confiscated firearms and ammunition, and transferred the detainees into Israel for further interrogation.

Syria’s interior ministry said in a statement that “these repeated provocations constitute a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic... these practises cannot lead the region to stability and will only result in further tension and turmoil.”

There was no immediate comment from Hamas. A spokesperson for Syria’s interior ministry told Reuters seven people were arrested in the Beit Jinn raid but denied they were from Hamas, saying they were civilians from the area. The spokesperson said one person was killed by Israeli fire.

Asked whether anyone was killed in its raid, the Israeli military told Reuters that when one of the suspected members attempted to flee, shots were fired and “a hit was identified.”

Israel has been deeply suspicious of the new government running Syria since former leader Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December, claiming it could support an attack similar to the Hamas-led October 7 2023 incursion into southern Israel.

In the early months of Syria’s new administration, Israel sent troops into southern Syria and carried out widespread strikes - but then began direct talks with Syrian officials to prevent conflict in the border region.

Tensions ticked up again in early June, however, after projectiles were fired from Syria towards Israel. Israel retaliated with its first strikes in nearly a month. On June 8, Israel carried out a strike on the outskirts of Beit Jinn on what it described as a Hamas member.