Six Syrian soldiers killed in Israeli strikes near Damascus: State Media

Syrian state media reported that six Syrian army officers had been killed by Israeli drone strikes south of Damascus, according to Syria’s state-run El Ekhbariya TV, a day after Syria condemned another Israeli “military incursion” outside the capital.

Early on Wednesday, the broadcaster reported that Israeli drones were attacking Syrian army positions in the Damascus countryside close to al-Kiswah.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes across Syria that target military installations and assets since the Bashar al-Assad regime was overthrown last December.

Israel’s occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights was also widened by annexing the demilitarized buffer zone, which was in violation of Syria’s disengagement agreement from 1974.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday that it had sent 60 soldiers to take control of a mountain range near the Syrian border near Beit Jinn, which is strategically located close to Lebanon’s southern border. Israel did not respond to the accusation right away.

Asaad al-Shaibani, the minister of foreign affairs in Syria, claimed that Israel had “established intelligence facilities and military posts” in demilitarized areas to advance its “expansionist and partition plans.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month shared his vision for a “Greater Israel,” a concept supported by ultranationalist Israelis who claim occupied the West Bank, Gaza, and parts of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan.

The Arab League and 31 Arab and Islamic nations argued that their position “blatantly and dangerously violates international law and the foundations of stable international relations.”