Translated Content:
In what constitutes a war crime against civilians, the Israeli occupation forces committed a horrific massacre at dawn today, Friday, killing 13 civilians, including women and children, from the town of Beit Jinn in the western Damascus countryside. This resulted from a deliberate and barbaric bombardment of civilian homes.
Several local sources from Beit Jinn described the details of the incident, telling Al-Watan newspaper: “Around 4:00 AM this morning, Friday, an Israeli force, consisting of a military vehicle and other vehicles carrying personnel, entered the town, while Israeli drones flew overhead.”
According to the sources, the occupation forces arrested three civilians—Muhammad Akasha, Nidal Akasha, and Ibrahim al-Saadi—from their homes. Residents protested, leading to clashes between the residents and the occupation army, which resulted in injuries to several Israeli soldiers.
Following this, the occupation forces began shelling civilian homes with artillery, mortars, and helicopters, resulting in the deaths of 11 civilians, including women and children, and injuring more than 20 others, some critically. The death toll later rose to 13.
Sources reported that among the martyrs were Muhammad Da’bous, Basil Kamal, Muhammad al-Hassan, Ismail Kasahout, Abdullah Kasahout, and another person from the al-Samman family, in addition to Muhammad Hamada, his brother, his wife, and their children, whose home was destroyed while they were inside due to the shelling.
The sources indicated that the shelling caused a displacement of residents from the town to safer areas.
The sources strongly denied the Israeli occupation army's claims that the three individuals arrested belonged to what it called the "Islamic Group" and that they were working and planning attacks against Israeli civilians.
The sources stated: "What the occupation claims is a lie and a fabrication to justify its aggression. What it claims is completely false." Mohammed Akasha works in the private sector, Nidal Akasha returned a few months ago from Lebanon where he had been working, and Ibrahim al-Saadi works as a shepherd.
The sources pointed out that, like residents of other cities, towns, and villages, the people of Beit Jinn have sons who have volunteered in the Internal Security Forces and the Ministry of Defense.
The sources emphasized that there is absolutely no presence of what is called the “Islamic Group” in Beit Jinn, stating, “Even if we assume there are terrorists, we live in a country with laws and institutions, and it is these institutions that combat terrorism, not the Israeli occupation.” They added, “The Syrian security services, the Internal Security Forces, and the Ministry of Defense are doing what is required of them in this regard, and the whole world has witnessed this.”
This is not the first time that Israeli occupation forces have entered the town of Beit Jinn, located on the slopes of Mount Hermon in the western Damascus countryside. On June 12, they stormed the town and arrested seven people, claiming they belonged to the Palestinian Hamas movement. Their fate remains unknown, while Damascus confirmed that these individuals were not members of Hamas. Civilians.
Days earlier, the Israeli occupation army carried out an attack targeting Anas Abboud, a former fighter in the Syrian revolutionary factions, claiming he was a member of Hamas.
Since the declaration of Syria's liberation from the regime of the ousted Bashar al-Assad on December 8th, the Israeli occupation has been carrying out airstrikes on vital areas in Syria, including the capital, Damascus, and conducting almost daily incursions into towns, villages, and farms adjacent to the ceasefire line in the Damascus countryside, Quneitra, and Daraa governorates.
Syria consistently condemns the Israeli occupation's attacks and incursions and calls on the international community to pressure it to cease these actions and withdraw from the areas it has occupied since December 8th.