Israel continues strikes and raids in Syria and Lebanon amid diplomatic pressure
Al Jazeera Staff
Israeli forces have carried out artillery shelling, airstrikes, and ground raids in southern Syria and several parts of Lebanon, even as US-backed diplomatic efforts to end the fighting remain stalled. The attacks come days after Syrian officials met Israeli intelligence contacts in Jordan, and amid ongoing Israeli operations in Lebanon despite a framework ceasefire agreement.
Israeli forces have carried out artillery shelling and ground raids in southern Syria, while also conducting airstrikes and demolishing homes in several areas of southern Lebanon, despite diplomatic efforts to end the hostilities.
In Syria, witnesses reported that the Israeli military shelled a hill near the town of Beit Jinn, on the western outskirts of Damascus, late Wednesday. Syrian state media said Israeli soldiers also raided and searched a house in the village of Taranja, in the Quneitra countryside.
Al Jazeera's Amr al-Halabi, reporting from Damascus, said the shelling of Bat al-Warda hill near Beit Jinn came amid repeated Israeli attacks on the town in recent months. Earlier, an Israeli drone strike targeting a civilian vehicle in the town wounded several people. A ground raid last year killed at least 13 people, including children.
The latest attacks come days after Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met Israeli intelligence officials in Jordan within the framework of US-mediated dialogue. Damascus described the meeting as an effort to end Israel's ongoing attacks, detentions, and targeting inside Syrian territory.
Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes on Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. It has also deployed troops into the UN-monitored buffer zone that for decades separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the occupied Golan Heights.
Tensions escalated further after the Israeli military bombed a Syrian airbase near the Turkish border, alleging that Ankara sought to establish a military presence there. Both Damascus and Ankara have denied those claims.
Marwan Kabalan, an analyst at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, said he does not expect the Syria-Israel talks to yield a breakthrough. In his view, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to escalate tensions in several arenas ahead of October's general election, hoping it will translate into votes, particularly from right-wing and far-right constituencies.
In Lebanon, the National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israel conducted an airstrike on the town of al-Mansouri in the Tyre district on Wednesday evening, along with strikes on the town of Sarbine in the Bint Jbeil district earlier in the day. Israeli artillery also shelled Wadi Zibqin in the Tyre district, while airstrikes targeted the towns of Beit Lif and Yater. Israeli forces continued destroying property in southern Lebanon, including in Hula in the Marjayoun district; multiple large explosions were reported in the towns of Bayt al-Sayyad, Baraachit, and Majdal Zoun. Israeli drones were also observed flying at low altitude over Beirut, including its southern suburbs.
The attacks come despite a US-mediated framework agreement aimed at ending hostilities after a March escalation, when Israel struck Lebanon in response to renewed Hezbollah attacks. The armed group said its actions were in retaliation for the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the US-Israel war against Iran, as well as Israel's near-daily violations of an earlier ceasefire.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said the Israeli campaign has killed 4,350 people and wounded 12,310 since March 2.
The repeated attacks have sparked debate in Beirut about the framework agreement Lebanon signed with Israel in June, under which Israel was to withdraw in phases in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese army and the disarmament of armed groups, in reference to Hezbollah.
President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday defended the dialogue path, saying it remains the option that spares Lebanon the horrors of war, despite what he called delays and obstacles.
Political analyst Khaldoun Al-Sharif said Lebanon has fulfilled its commitments under the first ceasefire agreement reached with Israel in 2024. However, he said Israel continues to strike and demolish Lebanese homes without facing any consequences from the United States. He cited more than 10,000 violations and stressed that Washington, rather than Hezbollah, is responsible for pressuring Israel to scale back its military operations.
