Israel conducts ground raid in Syria, detains a Syrian citizen connected to Iran

The military informed that the man, Al-Assi, was brought to Israel for further interrogation and added that he had been under the surveillance of the military for several months.

Israeli police men work at the site where projectiles fired from Lebanon hit a home in Tira, central Israel, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

The Israeli military has said that it conducted a ground operation in Syria on Sunday and seized a resident of Syria who allegedly was involved in Iranian networks. It is the first time, since the Middle East hostilities started last year, that Israel has announced that it carried out a ground raid in Syria.

Though, the Syrian government has not confirmed the development, according to news agency Associated Press. Since October last year, Israel has carried out multiple airstrikes in Syria and targeted members of Lebanon based Hezbollah militant group and officials of Iran, which is a close ally of Hezbollah and Syria. But there wasn’t any ground invasion by Israel.

During an intelligence-based, special IDF operation, IDF soldiers detained an Iranian terror network operative in Syria named Ali Soleiman al-Assi.

Al-Assi, a Syrian citizen who lives in the area of Saida in southern Syria, was under IDF surveillance and was found to be a… pic.twitter.com/Q2yAGIliiC

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 3, 2024

The Israeli raid in Syria comes as Tel Aviv has unleashed a campaign of bombardment in Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah’s leadership, infrastructure and financial route and it also launched a ground operation against Hezbollah.

The Israeli army identified the Syrian man as Al-Assi but did not detail when or where the raid took place in Syria.

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The Israeli Defense Force (IDF), in a post on X said, “Al-Assi, a Syrian citizen who lives in the area of Saida in southern Syria, was under IDF surveillance and was found to be a terrorist operative. His activity included gathering intelligence on IDF troops in the border area for future terror activity of the network.”

The military informed that the man, Al-Assi, was brought to Israel for further interrogation and added that he had been under the surveillance of the military for several months.

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The IDF uploaded a video of the Syrian man who was detained and wrote, “The operation prevented a future attack and led to the exposure of the operational methods of Iranian terror networks located near the Golan Heights. Al-Assi was transferred for further investigation. The footage is from the interrogation of al-Assi.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who visited the border of Israel alongside Lebanon on Sunday said that his focus was trying to keep Hezbollah from rearming itself through the “oxygen lifeline” of Iranian weapons transferred to Lebanon via Syria, reported AP.

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