DAMASCUS, April 3, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Israeli bombardment killed nine people in
Syria as troops conducted a raid in the south, the local government and a war
monitor said, with the Israeli army saying its forces were responding to fire
from militants.

The shelling came after an "Israeli incursion", with "the occupation forces
advancing for the first time to this depth", the local government said in a
statement posted to Telegram.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrians were local gunmen
who were killed "while attempting to confront Israeli forces, following calls
by the mosques in the area for jihad against the Israeli incursion".

According to the Israeli military, its forces were conducting operations in
the Tasil area, near Nawa, "seizing weapons and destroying terrorist
infrastructure" when "several gunmen fired at our forces".

They "responded by firing at them and eliminated several armed terrorists
from the ground and from the air", a spokesperson said. There were no Israeli
casualties.

"The IDF (military) will not allow the existence of a military threat in
Syria and will act against it," the spokesperson added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded in February that southern
Syria be completely demilitarised and said his government would not accept
the presence of the forces of the new Islamist-led government near Israeli
territory.

In December, as rebels were overthrowing president Bashar al-Assad in
Damascus, Netanyahu ordered Israeli troops to enter the UN-patrolled buffer
zone between the Israeli-occupied and Syrian-controlled Golan Heights, where
they remain.

Israel has also conducted hundreds of air strikes on its neighbour since late
last year, mostly targeting military sites and weapons systems.

On Wednesday, Israel hit targets across Syria including in the Damascus area.