Israel announced Sunday that it had conducted a special ground operation in Syria “in recent months,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
The IDF also said it had detained an “Iranian terror network operative” during the mission, whom it identified as Ali Soleiman al-Assi. It accused the man of gathering intelligence on IDF forces along the border and transferred him to Israel for interrogation.
The IDF said al-Assi’s arrest “prevented a future attack and led to the exposure of the operational methods of Iranian terror networks near the Golan Heights.”
“The IDF will continue to operate to defend the sovereignty of the State of Israel and will not allow Iranian proxies to operate in southern Syria and threaten Israeli civilians,” it said.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses them. The attacks often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups.
Last month, the Israeli military launched airstrikes on western Syria, the Syrian Defense Ministry said, adding that the strikes hit a military site in Hama and a car assembly plant in Hassia.
Syrian state television also reported that the strikes hit vehicles carrying medical and relief supplies and caused a large fire in the area.
In September, Israeli strikes hit several areas in central Syria, damaging a highway in Hama province and starting fires, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported at the time. Fourteen people were killed and more than 40 wounded.
Israel has vowed to stop Iran’s entrenchment in Syria, especially since Syria is a key route for Iran to send weapons to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has been clashing with Israeli forces for 11 months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas for 11 months — a Hezbollah ally — in Gaza.