At least nine people were killed and several others injured in a major Israeli assault on Jabaliyeh Dam forest between the cities of Nawa and Tasil in Syria’s southern governorate of Daraa.
The aggression, which included a land incursion and airstrikes, was carried out by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the early hours of Thursday, April 3. It also came several days after the IOF committed another massacre in Daraa’s Koya village, killing seven Syrian civilians.
Moreover, the late hours of Wednesday, April 2 saw a wave of intensified aerial raids launched by Israeli fighter jets on multiple locations within the Syrian capital Damascus, and the central governorates of Hama and Homs.
Strategic sites were among the wrecked targets, including the scientific research center in Damascus, Hama Military Airport, and the T4 Airbase (also known as the Tiyas) in Homs.
Israel drops Gaza-style warning leaflets over Daraa
Applying the same approach they followed with Palestinians in the Gaza strip, Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets on Daraa’s Koya town, hours after Thursday’s massacres took place.
The leaflets warned the residents of Koya against the alleged movement of “gunmen” in the town, stating that they were crossing the valley of Al-Shari‘a toward the Yarmouk Basin.
This action is widely regarded as another provocation by Israel against the local population. The leaflets, containing explicit threats, underscore the rising tensions from a string of Israeli escalations in southern Syria.
However, residents of Daraa emerged defiant toward Israel after masses of people gathered in Nawa city on Thursday to participate in the funeral of their compatriots, who were killed in the Israeli aggression Wednesday evening.
At the funeral, people of Daraa confirmed that their “freedom martyrs” had just ascended, joining the “martyrs of Al-Aqsa mosque and Gaza” in Palestine. The mourners also chanted slogans that asserted their intention to resist the Israeli occupation.
Israel escalates attacks on Syria to prevent Türkiye from turning the country into a “protectorate”
While using the alleged presence of “gunmen” as a pretext to kill civilians in Daraa, Israel has used a different excuse to attack Syria’s strategic sites across the country. The Zionist state claimed that those sites were targeted to curb Türkiye from turning Syria into its own “protectorate”.
“They are doing their utmost to have Syria as a Turkish protectorate. It’s clear that is their intention.” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said, accusing Türkiye of playing a “negative role” in Syria.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan denounced Sa’ar’s statements as “provocative”, adding that they reflect Israel’s “aggressive and expansionist policies.”
He further warned Israel to “abandon its expansionist policies, withdraw from occupied territories, and cease obstructing efforts to restore stability in Syria.”
Israel intensifies an aerial campaign it already started around 14 years ago
Since the eruption of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has continuously conducted aerial attacks against the Arab country. Nevertheless, air raids, which had been less frequent and destructive, intensified and became fiercer in early October 2024.
The surge in Israeli aggression in Syria coincided with an accelerating advancement of the armed opposition groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), who succeeded in overthrowing former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Once HTS took over Syria, Israel began to expand in the southern areas of the country declaring an indefinite de facto occupation while insisting on systematically devastating the country’s military assets and capabilities.
Seemingly intent on unilaterally sabotaging the ceasefire in Lebanon with its latest assaults on Beirut’s Dahiyeh, and after resuming its genocidal aggression on Gaza, Israel’s all out multi-front war in the region has become a horrific reality.
