This prompted an Israel Defense Forces operation on Nov. 28 in the village of Beit Jinn, south of Damascus.
Israeli forces raided the village and arrested three operatives from the Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya organization, who, according to intelligence, were planning attacks against Israel, including rocket fire toward the Golan Heights.
The arrested individuals reportedly admitted during interrogation that their organization is linked to terrorist activities connected to Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.
During the raid, Israeli forces encountered resistance and live fire, resulting in injuries to six IDF soldiers. According to Syrian media, 20 villagers—some armed—were killed in the exchange.
Senior political sources said that following the incident, Israel conveyed stern messages to the Syrian regime under Ahmad al-Sharaa via the United States, asserting that it will not tolerate the establishment of terrorist organizations in southern Syria and that it is Damascus’s responsibility to stop such groups—or else Israel will act.
The sources added that the consolidation of terrorist elements in southern Syria undermines the prospects of a security agreement between Israel and Syria and highlights that al-Sharaa does not have effective control over all parts of the country.
The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli attack on Beit Jinn, calling it a “complete war crime in all its aspects,” and warned that “continuing this criminal aggression endangers security and stability in the region.”
Senior security sources in southern Syria reported that terrorist groups in the area include Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Houthi-affiliated elements from Yemen’s Ansar Allah, ISIS and factions of Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya.
Additionally, several Sunni Bedouin tribes with jihadist ideologies operate in southern Syria, participating in weapons and drug smuggling.
Some of these tribes participated in the massacre of members of the Druze community in Sweida alongside forces loyal to al-Sharaa.
Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya is a Lebanese organization that US President Donald Trump instructed his secretary of state and treasury to consider including on the list of “foreign terrorist organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The group was established in 1964 as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Lebanon and later expanded into Syria. Its military wing was founded in the 1980s and has since operated in cooperation with other terrorist organizations against Israel, including Hamas in Lebanon and Syria, and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Lebanese parliamentarian Amad al-Kout, a member of Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, denied Israeli claims regarding the arrest of his organization’s operatives in Beit Jinn. On Nov. 28, he told Al-Quds Al-Arabi, “The information published by Israel is incorrect. Our organization has no activity outside Lebanese territory.”
Regarding Israel’s choice to accuse the organization of activity in Syria, he said, “This is done to justify the American decision that designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, a decision that is entirely politically motivated and legally baseless.”
The Israeli military activity in southern Syria has heightened the region’s security complexity. Israel also claims that al-Sharaa’s regime is not preventing the smuggling of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon through this area. For this reason, senior security officials stated that Israel does not trust al-Sharaa regarding counter-terrorism efforts.
They believe Israel must now act to strengthen its military control in southern Syria and establish a land corridor for its Druze allies in Sweida.
Originally published by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
