Deadly Israeli raid sows terror and shock in southern Syrian village

Instead of her son’s wedding ceremony, Ijhad Saadi is preparing his funeral.

Black-clad women crowd the family home, their teary condolences replacing the celebratory chants and zalghoutas – traditional high-pitched trills of joy – that would normally have filled the air.

Only the groom’s room, which Ms Saadi had painstakingly decorated, indicates past hopes, with heart-shaped balloons floating up to the ceiling. “I prepared this to celebrate him, it’s only simple things, it’s what we could afford,” Ms Saadi says, staring at the colourful room, her green eyes full of sadness.

Her son, Hassan, was killed on November 28 in Beit Jinn during an Israeli incursion into the southern Syrian village on the edge of the occupied Golan Heights that prompted deadly clashes with local gunmen. As the Israeli force met resistance on the ground, Israel began to bomb the village, residents told The National, and forced them to take shelter for hours.

The National was able to visit the town a few days later, its streets still bearing the scars of the violence, which killed 13 people, including three children and two women. One house lies in ruins, its walls riddled with holes. The ground is littered with bullets, which children pick up to play marbles under the throbbing sound of an Israeli drone.

The Israeli army said its troops infiltrated the village to detain militants who had “advanced terror attacks against Israeli civilians”. It added that “several armed terrorists opened fire” on its soldiers, who fired back. Six Israeli soldiers were injured in the clashes.

The Israeli army claimed, without providing evidence, that it was targeting the Jamaa Islamiya militant group. The group, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood based in Lebanon, denied in a statement that it is active in Syria.

Residents denounce the Israeli “pretexts” to justify the attack. “We don’t have such groups here,” Ms Saadi tells The National. She adds that dozens of young men, including Hassan, had spontaneously taken up arms when they saw Israeli tanks approaching the village’s outskirts, fearing the forces would carry out kidnappings.

Ijhad Saadi was preparing for her son's wedding when he was killed during Israel's attack. Mohamed Errami for The National

In a previous raid in June, Israel abducted seven men from the village. Three more were abducted in the latest attack, one of whom was later released, according to residents.

“Hassan wanted to resist these people entering our village, our homes, going near our women. There was no planned operation,” Ms Saadi says.

Ms Saadi saw her son die under Israeli fire while shooting at the armoured vehicle. She did not try to stop him. “The last thing he told me was, ‘Mother, death is just death.’ He wanted to defend our land.”

Israel has routinely conducted incursions into southern Syria, seizing swathes of territory, destroying houses and building military bases. Experts have described the strategy as a “new security doctrine” since October 7, 2023, that is aimed at creating buffer zones – not only in Syria, but also in south Lebanon, which it bombs daily.

Beit Jinn residents say they cannot approach the outskirts of their village without Israel firing at the