Syria's Interior Ministry and Hamas on Thursday denied that Israel had seized members of the Palestinian militant group during an overnight raid in southern Syria.
The Israeli army said its operation in Beit Jinn, 50km south-west of Damascus, was “based on intelligence gathered in recent weeks” and led to the arrest of “several Hamas terrorists” who were allegedly plotting “multiple terror attacks” against Israel and its military. It said the detainees, who were not identified, were transferred to Israel for questioning.
“This is completely untrue, it’s a Zionist propaganda. The Hamas movement does not have any members in Syria, so how would that be the case?” a Hamas officials told The National.
“It’s completely untrue and we would release an official statement if it was, no matter what the case.”
A representative of Syria's Interior Ministry also rejected Israel's claim.
“The detainees are civilians, they're not fighters,” they told The National.
Broadcaster Syria TV reported that about 100 Israeli soldiers in 10 vehicles stormed the town of Beit Jinn. The Israeli troops killed one person during the raid, the channel added.
The raid comes as Israel has increased operations in southern Syria following weeks of relative calm.
Israel launched waves of air strikes across Syria after rebel groups toppled the Bashar Al Assad regime in early December, destroying large parts of the Syrian army’s weapons stockpile and seizing territory in the south.
Israel has expressed distrust towards Syria’s new authorities, led by President Ahmad Al Shara, a former Al Qaeda commander-turned-statesman, who has pledged to govern the fractured country inclusively and unify all of Syria's armed groups under a single command structure.
Mr Al Shara's government has adopted a pragmatic approach towards Israel, with the President revealing during a visit to France last month that his country was engaged in indirect talks with the Israelis.
But tension flared again in early June after projectiles were fired from southern Syria into Israeli territory. Israel retaliated with air strikes on June 8 – the first in nearly month – which it said killed a Hamas member on the outskirts of Beit Jinn.
