Xinhua
04 Jun 2025

DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Israeli artillery struck targets in Syria's western Daraa province on Tuesday, Syrian state media and a war monitor reported, in what Israel said was a response to rockets fired from Syria into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Syria's state-run news agency SANA said the Israeli shelling targeted the Yarmouk Basin, a region near the Jordanian border and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. It provided no immediate details on casualties or damage.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a Britain-based war monitor, reported that at least three Israeli shells hit agricultural areas in western Daraa. Israeli drones were spotted over the area shortly after the strikes, it said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the exchange. In a statement, it said two rockets were launched from Syria toward Israeli settlements in the southern Golan Heights, triggering air raid sirens in Ramat Magshimim and Haspin. The rockets exploded in open areas without causing injuries. Israeli media said Tuesday's projectiles were the first fired from Syria against Israeli targets since the fall of the Assad government.

"In response, IDF artillery struck the sources of the fire in southern Syria," the statement said.

Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a warning following the incident: "We hold the Syrian leader directly responsible for any threat and firing at Israel, and the full response will come soon."

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it in a move not recognised by most of the international community.

Cross-border fire has occurred sporadically since Syria's civil war began in 2011. Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria over the years, mainly targeting what it says are Iran-backed forces and weapons shipments.

Tuesday's artillery fire marked the first ground-based Israeli attack on southern Syria in roughly three months, though air raids have continued elsewhere, according to the SOHR.

The monitor said Israel has launched 56 attacks on Syrian territory so far in 2025 -- 47 by air and nine by land -- hitting at least 82 targets, including weapons depots, command centres and vehicles.

Following former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ouster on Dec. 8, 2024, Israel intensified its air campaign in Syria, with the SOHR estimating around 500 air strikes on military positions. The campaign appeared aimed at weakening remaining Syrian military assets and preventing the transfer of advanced weapons to Iran-aligned groups or Islamist militants amid the country's power vacuum.