Israeli warplanes drop warning leaflets in Syria’s Daraa

DAMASCUS/ISTANBUL

Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets on the town of Koya in southern Syria’s Daraa province on Thursday, warning of the presence of “gunmen” in the area, witnesses said.

According to the witnesses, the leaflets warned against the movement of gunmen in the town, who Israel claimed were crossing the road leading to the Yarmouk Valley separating the two sides.

A map was attached to the leaflets showing the area covered by the Israeli warning.

There was no immediate Syrian comment on the Israeli warning.

Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes targeting several sites in the capital Damascus and the western provinces of Hama and Homs on Wednesday.

Israel’s military claimed the strikes struck “military capabilities that remained” at the Hama airbase and T4 base in Homs, along with other military infrastructure in Damascus.

The Israeli army also launched a ground offensive in Daraa in southern Syria, where at least nine people were killed, according to local authorities.

Last week, an Israeli airstrike in Koya killed at least six people and injured several others.

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated a 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.

Israel also took advantage of the regime's fall to launch hundreds of strikes that targeted military sites and assets across Syria, including fighter jets, missile systems, and air defense installations, according to reports.