Israeli ground forces conducted a commando raid on a former Syrian air defense base near Damascus overnight Wednesday, Aug. 27th, marking their farthest military operation inside Syria since Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December, according to Syrian military sources and state media.
An Israeli official reportedly told Al Hadath that forces dismantled spying devices and recovered “secret and dangerous equipment” that had been in place for 10 years. The official warned Syria’s new administration against “playing with fire and listening to Turkish orders.”
The Al Hadath report cited an unnamed senior Israeli security official saying the IDF dismantled Turkish surveillance devices planted in the Damascus area to monitor Israel. The source claimed the equipment had been housed in Syrian military bases for over a decade.
The ground operation followed Israeli strikes that began Tuesday in the Kiswa area, with Syrian state media reporting six soldiers killed.
A Syrian defense ministry official told AFP the targeted site was a former Syrian military base in Tal Maneh, near Kisweh. According to multiple reports from both Israeli and Arab sources, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the site contained weapons used by Hezbollah.
The Observatory said the Israeli ground raid was the first of its kind since Assad’s fall in December. The raid involved dozens of Israeli troops landing by helicopter at Jabal Manea hilltop and conducting a two-hour operation before withdrawing, two Syrian army sources told Reuters.
The Syrian foreign ministry condemned the strikes Wednesday, calling them a violation of international law. Syria also condemned Monday incursions by Israeli soldiers into Quneitra countryside and their “illegal presence on Mount Hermon and the buffer zone.”
Jordan condemned “in the strongest terms, the repeated Israeli violations and its infiltration into Syrian territory, considering it a flagrant violation of international law and a dangerous escalation targeting Syria’s stability, sovereignty and security.”
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa was attending a business expo opening about 9 miles from the targeted area during the operations, according to Syrian media.
The increased Israeli military activity comes as the two countries are reportedly engaged in US-mediated talks on easing tensions. Hebrew media reports suggested Damascus and Jerusalem are closing in on understandings based on 1974 disengagement lines.
