Israeli Airstrike Hits Palestinian Islamic Jihad Site in Damascus
The Israeli Air Force carried out an airstrike on a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) command center in Damascus on Thursday, targeting senior members of the group accused of planning attacks against Israeli forces along the northern border, according to Israeli officials.
Syrian state media reported eight casualties but did not provide further details. Meanwhile, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed at least one fatality.
Israel’s military released a nine-second video allegedly showing the airstrike, in which an explosion at the edge of a building was followed by dense smoke. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in a post on X confirmed that the target was a command center used to direct “terrorist activities” against Israel.
A Syrian security source told Reuters that the target of the recent strike was a “Palestinian figure” but this was not confirmed by the IDF.
In a statement, the IDF said it “will not allow terrorist organizations to entrench themselves in Syrian territory and operate against the State of Israel, and will respond forcefully to any such entrenchment.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz linked the strike to broader efforts against Islamic terrorism in Syria.
“Wherever terror activity against Israel is organized, the extreme Islamic leader al-Jolani will find the Air Force aircraft flying above and striking terror targets,” Katz said, referring to Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. “Islamic terrorism will not have immunity in Damascus nor anywhere else.”
In a related development, Israeli forces advanced into Syria’s al-Quneitra region on Thursday, deploying tanks and military vehicles to detonate former military sites, according to SOHR. There were no immediate reports of casualties from this operation.
The recent Israeli airstrike follows a series of military operations in Syria over recent months.
Last month, Israel launched airstrikes on multiple military bases in Syria after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the “complete demilitarization” of southern Syria. Those strikes, which hit the town of Kiswah and parts of Daraa province, reportedly killed at least two individuals, according to Syrian media.
