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The Beit Jinn Operation: Is the Israeli Escalation Linked to Damascus's Refusal to Relinquish Occupied Territories?
Tel Aviv Offered in the Negotiations a Security Understanding Agreement While Maintaining its Occupation of 10 Sites... or a Peace Agreement Without the Golan Heights
Funeral of One of the Victims of the Israeli Operation in Beit Jinn on Friday (EPA)
Tel Aviv: Nazir Majali
Last Updated: 16:39 - November 29, 2025 - 08 Jumada al-Thani 1447 AH
Published: 17:26 - November 28, 2025 - 07 Jumada al-Thani 1447 AH
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While Israel asserts that its forces' incursion into the Syrian town of Beit Jinn in recent hours was the result of a security operation to combat terrorist organizations, analysts say the real reason behind this incursion lies in the failure of the latest round of negotiations between Damascus and Tel Aviv, during which Israel attempted to impose its will by annexing Syrian territory, according to the principle of "peace by force."
According to these analysts, Israeli negotiators presented the Syrian government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa with two options: either a comprehensive peace agreement in which Damascus would relinquish the Golan Heights, occupied since 1967, or a phased agreement in which Israel would maintain its occupation of ten points deep inside Syrian territory, from Mount Hermon in the north to the southern border.
The essence of this disagreement was revealed by Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz in his recent statements, in which he ruled out any "path to peace" with Syria. In a closed session of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Security Committee on Wednesday, Katz stated, "Syria is demanding that Israel relinquish the Golan Heights, and this is impossible."
However, Katz added justifications for maintaining Israeli military forces and conducting operations deep inside Syria, saying that "there are forces within its borders (inside Syria) that are considering invading Golan towns and using them as a launching pad to attack Israeli towns (referring to the settlements in the Golan)."
He mentioned several Islamic organizations among these forces. Among them are the Houthis, Iranian militias, as well as ISIS, Hamas, and other Islamist groups, all of which he considers a threat of a "ground invasion of northern Israel."
These statements sparked outrage even in Tel Aviv. The newspaper Yediot Aharonot wrote that "Israel has never spoken of attempts by the Yemeni Houthi group to operate against Israel from Syrian territory. There is no information about Houthi activity in Syria, despite their previous attacks on Israel with rockets and drones over the past two years in response to Israel's war on the Gaza Strip."
A Humvee destroyed by Israelis during their withdrawal from Beit Jann (AFP)
Katz again raised the issue of the Druze in Syria, saying it was a matter of "concern for Israeli officials," and threatened that "the Israeli army has a plan ready, and if there are attacks on Jabal al-Druze (southern Syria) again, we will intervene again, including closing the border."
Meanwhile, the Israeli army had reinforced its presence in the vast area it occupied deep inside Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, an area spanning 450 square kilometers. This included occupying all the peaks of Mount Hermon and constructing ten large military outposts there. After the Israeli Air Force launched a comprehensive attack on Syrian airfields and military bases immediately following the regime's collapse about a year prior, destroying 85 percent of its defensive capabilities, it continued to launch raids on various regions in Syria, from Deir ez-Zor to Homs and from Aleppo to Daraa. It also conducted incursions to arrest those it labeled "suspected terrorists." Furthermore, the Israeli army intervened in the internal conflicts in southern Syria under the pretext of defending the Druze, demanding an Israeli corridor from the Golan Heights to Suwayda, a city with a Druze majority.
Israel divided southern Syria into two regions; The first was a security zone along the border, 5-7 kilometers deep, into which the entry of any armed individuals was prohibited. The second was a demilitarized zone, inaccessible to heavy Syrian army vehicles, stretching from Damascus to Daraa. Israel carried out sporadic attacks in these border areas while high-level negotiating delegations from both countries were meeting in various capitals under the auspices of mediators (such as the United States, Turkey, and Azerbaijan).
[Image caption: Destruction in a house bombed by Israeli soldiers in Beit Jinn, Syria, on Friday (Syrian Civil Defense - AP)] Analysts believe that the recent Israeli military strikes were part of the negotiating tools and a means of exerting pressure to force concessions from Damascus.
In recent weeks, Israel deployed the 55th Commando Unit of the Israeli army, brought in from the Khan Younis area in the Gaza Strip, to carry out operations similar to those conducted in the Strip and in Bint Jbeil, Lebanon. At dawn on Friday, this force raided the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside, southern Syria, with a large contingent to arrest three individuals suspected of planning attacks against Israel. After arresting them in their homes and beginning to leave the town, the Israeli forces came under fire. The surprise attack caused shock and panic among the troops. An armored personnel carrier became bogged down in the mud, and the Israeli force fled, abandoning a large military Hummer jeep that functioned like a tank. However, they destroyed the Hummer from the air to prevent it from falling into the hands of the militants.
The army announced that six of its soldiers and officers were wounded in the incident, two seriously and one moderately. The Syrians reported the deaths of 13 civilians and insisted that the Israeli bombardment targeted only civilians. The Israeli army stated that its operation was "complete. All those wanted were arrested, and a number of terrorists were eliminated," adding that "army forces are deployed in the area and will continue to operate against any threat targeting Israel and its citizens." Although the Israelis claimed the wounded were "terrorists" belonging to the "Islamic Group," local sources confirmed that the detainees had no known organizational or security affiliations and were simply civilians working in agriculture and livestock farming.
Following this incident, Israeli forces launched retaliatory attacks. In Quneitra, occupation forces targeted Tell Ahmar, east of the province's countryside, with artillery fire and renewed their incursion into the province's countryside at the Umm Batna junction in northern Quneitra, where three military vehicles advanced into the area. Israel stated that it had a "target bank" to retaliate for the wounding of its soldiers in Beit Jinn.