Al-Deif Brigades claim rocket strike on Israel

Shafaq News/ An armed faction calling itself the “Martyr Mohammed Al-Deif Brigades” has claimed responsibility for launching two rockets from Syria’s Daraa province toward Israeli military positions in the occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday.

Al-Deif was a top military commander killed by Israel earlier this year in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas denied any link to the group, saying it has no knowledge of its formation, leadership, or backing.

A senior commander of the brigades told Al Jazeera that “the attacks would continue until Israel halts its strikes on Gaza,” saying they are “a response to the massacres against the vulnerable in the strip.”

The Israeli army said the Grad rockets landed in open areas, causing no casualties. In retaliation, Israeli forces launched artillery and air strikes on Syrian territory, targeting areas near the villages of Maariya and Koya in the Yarmouk Basin. Local sources said four Israeli military vehicles entered a position known as Thaknet al-Jazira in western Daraa. Meanwhile, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Israeli fighter jets entering Syria’s coastal airspace, with drones patrolling skies over Daraa.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Syria’s transitional President Ahmed Al-Shraa would be held directly responsible for any threats from Syrian territory.

Meanwhile, Syria’s Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli strikes, calling them “a blatant violation of sovereignty” that caused “heavy human and material losses” in Daraa. It urged the international community to halt what it described as repeated Israeli “aggression,” while stressing that Syria “has not and will not be a threat to any party in the region.”

Syria also stated that it has not yet confirmed the reports of rocket fire toward Israel. “Our priority in the south remains to assert the state’s authority,” the ministry said, adding that several actors might be seeking to destabilize the region for their own interests.

The story was updated to add the Syrian Foreign Ministry statements.