Israeli airstrike targets new Syrian authorities for first time, killing three

Israel continues to attack its neighbouring countries.

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An Israeli airstrike targeted a military convoy in southern Syria on Wednesday, marking the first strike against the forces of Syria’s new authorities.

The attack killed three individuals, including two members of the Military Operations Department and a local civilian, in the Quneitra region, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and medical sources.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Observatory, stated that the strike was the first targeting the security forces of the new authorities that emerged after Islamist groups ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

The operation reportedly targeted security forces conducting a sweep in the area to search for weapons hidden in civilian homes.

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against Syria’s now-defunct army since December 8, when Assad was ousted. These strikes have destroyed much of the Syrian military’s arsenal.

On the same day Assad was toppled, Israel also announced the occupation of a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights, an area that has separated Israeli and Syrian forces since 1974.

Israel had seized a large part of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war, later annexing the territory in a move not widely recognized internationally.