Syrian state media and war monitors said Wednesday that Israel carried out a military operation in the Damascus countryside, combining drone strikes, air raids and what appeared to be a rare ground landing by special forces.
The reported sequence of events unfolded over two days near the town of al-Kiswah, about 10 kilometers from the Damascus International Fairgrounds, where Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa was attending the opening of an international exhibition.
Israeli airstrikes in Damascus countryside
Stage One: Discovery and initial strike
On Tuesday night, Syrian troops on patrol said they discovered “surveillance and listening devices” in fields near al-Kiswah. Within hours, drones struck military positions in the area, killing six soldiers, including at least one commander, according to Syrian reports. By Wednesday, the toll had risen to eight, all from the Syrian army’s 44th Division.
Stage Two: Blocking access
Syrian state news agency SANA said Israeli forces continued to bombard the site through Wednesday to prevent additional units from reaching it. The Syrian military was unable to recover the dead until late the following evening.
Stage Three: Heavy airstrikes
That night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked monitoring group, reported that Israeli warplanes launched around 10 strikes against military facilities in al-Kiswah. The targets, it said, were close to the Damascus fairgrounds. Lebanon’s Hezbollah-affiliated daily Al-Akhbar called the bombardment a “display of power” that “stole the show” from the international event.
Stage Four: Ground landing
Syrian media then reported that four helicopters landed dozens of Israeli soldiers in the area, who operated for more than two hours with what were described as “search tools.” A Syrian military source told Al Jazeera that there were no clashes with Syrian troops. Two Syrian officers told Reuters the Israeli force landed near Jabal Manaa, once a key Iranian-run air defense base used by Hezbollah and other militias before being destroyed in earlier Israeli strikes. The base is now manned by al-Sharaa’s army. They said the Israeli troops later withdrew.
Stage Five: Aftermath and accusations
Only after the Israelis left were Syrian forces able to retrieve the bodies of the eight soldiers killed the previous night and “destroy parts of the surveillance equipment,” according to SANA.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry condemned the events as a “grave violation of international law and Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” calling it part of Israel’s “aggressive policy to undermine stability in the region.”
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IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz
(Photo: GPO)
The IDF declined to comment. But Defense Minister Israel Katz posted on X Thursday morning: “Our forces operate day and night in every arena for Israel’s security” — a remark widely seen as a veiled acknowledgment.
The reports come as the United States pushes to establish a new security arrangement involving Israel, Syria and Lebanon. This week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem with Thomas Barrack, Washington’s special envoy for Syria and Lebanon and ambassador to Turkey. Syrian state outlets, meanwhile, quoted al-Sharaa telling former ministers and Arab journalists that “advanced discussions” on a possible security agreement with Israel were underway.