Israeli Defence Chief signals ongoing operations as Syrian media reports raids

Tel Aviv [Israel], August 28 (ANI/TPS): Defence Minister Israel Katz signalled Israeli military activity in Syria on Thursday, following reports of strikes near Damascus and in the country's south.

"Our forces are operating in all combat zones day and night for the security of Israel," Katz wrote on X, though the IDF has not publicly confirmed the operations.

Syrian media reported that Israeli ground troops raided a site that had been bombed earlier on Tuesday and Wednesday, remaining on location for more than two hours. Earlier, drones reportedly targeted an army unit near Al-Kiswah, eight miles south of Damascus, killing six soldiers; Syria's Foreign Ministry later said eight were killed. State television reported additional airstrikes at the site on Wednesday. SANA also cited a separate strike in Tranja, Quneitra Province, which killed one person.

Katz stressed the IDF's continued defensive role along Israel's northern frontier. "Troops will remain on Mount Hermon and in the security zone to protect the communities of the Golan and the Galilee from threats emanating from the Syrian side, as the central lesson from the events of October 7," he said, referring to the 2023 Hamas-led attack in the northwestern Negev.

He added that Israel will maintain its protective efforts for Syrian Druze communities. "We will also continue to protect the Druze in Syria," he insisted.

Around 40,000 Druze live in the southern Syrian provinces of Quneitra, Da'ara, and Sweida under Israeli protection. Netanyahu has called for the demilitarisation of southern Syria.

Israel sent forces into the 235-sq.-km buffer zone to prevent Syrian rebels from approaching the border when the regime of Bashar Assad collapsed in December.

Israel considers the 1974 ceasefire agreement void until order is restored in Syria. (ANI/TPS)

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