Israeli raid on Beit Jinn kills at least 13, including children

Key developments

At least 13 people, including children, were killed in an overnight Israeli operation in the village of Beit Jinn on the edge of the Golan Heights, Syrian state media reported. Syrian and monitoring sources said the raid involved ground troops, air strikes and shelling; footage released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shows strikes on a group and on a building, and bodycam video of soldiers firing in a darkened street. The IDF said troops entered to detain members of the Jamaa Islamiya group responsible for "terror attacks against Israeli civilians," and that several suspects were arrested and a number of militants were killed; it also reported six Israeli soldiers wounded, three seriously. Local hospital officials and the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said bodies and dozens of injured people were brought in, and that a building collapsed during the clashes.

Context and response

Syria's foreign ministry condemned the operation as a "war crime," saying civilians—including women and children—were among the dead and urging the UN Security Council to act. Israel says such incursions aim to prevent armed groups operating near the demilitarised Golan buffer and that its deployments seek to keep the Syrian army and hostile cells from moving into the area; the UN has warned such moves violate the ceasefire arrangements. The US has been trying to mediate a security agreement between Israel and Syria but talks have not succeeded. as reported by BBC

This story has also been reported by: Al Jazeera, NPR, France 24