Israel bombs ‘military targets’ in southern Syria, outside Damascus

The Israeli military conducts air raids on what it described as military bases and command centres.

The Israeli military has conducted air raids targeting what it described as military bases and command centres in southern Syria and outside the capital, Damascus.

Israeli warplanes hit the town of Kisweh, approximately 20km (12 miles) south of Damascus, as well as the southern province of Deraa late on Tuesday, residents, security sources and local broadcaster Syria TV said.

The Israeli army said it struck “military targets in southern Syria, including command centres and multiple sites containing weapons”, without specifying exact locations.

Residents of Damascus reported hearing the sound of planes flying several low passes over the capital and a series of blasts.

“The Air Force is attacking strongly in southern Syria as part of the new policy we have defined of pacifying southern Syria – and the message is clear: we will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon,” Defence Minister Israel Katz’s spokesperson said in a statement.

“Any attempt by the Syrian regime forces and the country’s terrorist organisations to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria will be met with fire,” the statement added.

The bombardment came hours after Syria condemned Israel’s incursion into the country’s south and demanded it withdraw, according to the closing statement of a national dialogue summit. The summit, organised by Syria’s new government, aimed to outline the country’s political roadmap after the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Israel moved forces into a United Nations-monitored demilitarised zone within Syria after al-Assad’s removal, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the “demilitarisation” of southern Syria, saying Israel “will not allow the new Syrian army to move into territory south of Damascus”.

Palestinian group Hamas condemned the air strikes in the “strongest terms”, calling them “a blatant attack on Syrian sovereignty” and a continuation of Israel’s aggression against Arab nations.

The attacks complicate efforts by Syria’s new administration to reunify the country, said Qutaiba Idlbi, a resident senior fellow for Syria at the Atlantic Council.

He said the air raids coincided with the national dialogue summit on Syria’s political transition, which has already faced challenges, particularly in negotiations with the Druze community in the south and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast.

“The strikes on Damascus are only going to serve to delay such agreement, as the powers in northeast and southern Syria will feel more empowered to seek deals and perhaps military support from external actors to increase their leverage in negotiations with Damascus,” Idlbi told Al Jazeera.