DAMASCUS—Syria slammed Israeli attacks as a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty after a deadly bombardment Tuesday in the country’s south, where Israel’s military said it had responded to incoming fire.
The violence near the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights followed Israeli air strikes in central Syria, the latest in a string of attacks on military sites since Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime president Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian foreign ministry in a statement condemned “the continued Israeli aggression on Syrian territory, which saw a dangerous escalation in the village of Kuwayya” in the southern Daraa province.
It said “heavy artillery and air bombardment targeted residential and farming areas, leading to the death of six civilians”, raising an earlier toll provided by local authorities.
“This escalation comes in the context of a series of violations that started with Israeli forces’ penetrating into Quneitra and Daraa provinces, in an ongoing aggression on Syrian territory, in flagrant violation of national sovereignty and international law,” the ministry said.
Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military said that its troops “identified several terrorists who opened fire toward them in southern Syria”, without providing a specific location.
“The troops returned fire in response and the IAF (air force) struck the terrorists,” it added in a statement.
Daraa governor Anwar al-Zoabi said in a statement that “Israeli occupation army violations and repeated attacks on Syrian territory pushed a group of residents to clash with a military force that tried to penetrate” Kuwayya, northwest of Daraa city.
The situation “led to an escalation” by Israeli forces “with artillery shelling and drone bombardment”, said the statement posted on Telegram.
Provincial authorities said some 350 families had fled to shelters in a nearby village.