[News] Beit Jinn Massacre: Syrians Begin Resisting Israeli Occupation Alone

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Beit Jinn Massacre: Syrians Begin Resisting Israeli Occupation Alone –
AnalysisNovember 29, 2025
------------------------------
An Israeli airstrike targeted the village of Beit Jinn in Syria. (Photo:
via SANA news agency)

*By Robert Inlakesh
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/robert-inlakesh>*

Syrians in Beit Jinn confronted Israeli forces without support from
Damascus, signalling a potential new phase of grassroots armed resistance.

During the early hours of Friday morning, an Israeli military unit invaded
the village of Beit Jinn, located in the Damascus countryside. Similar
raids have become routine in southern Syria, yet this time the locals
decided to fight back and, as a result, were subjected to hours of
airstrikes.

At around 3 AM local time, what the Hebrew media claimed was an Israeli
reservist unit had run an incursion into the Damascus countryside,
specifically targeting the village of Beit Jinn. Initially, the Israeli
media had reported that a “sweeping” operation had taken place, during
which the occupation soldiers were subjected to a sudden, violent ambush.

Initially, the Israeli army radio reported 6 soldiers were injured, 3 were
said to have been in serious to critical condition. Syrian local media
claimed these three soldiers were killed. Later, Israeli Hebrew media
reports indicated 13 injuries had been sustained.

What ensued was a two-hour-long rescue operation, involving drones and
helicopters. Some also claimed fighter jets were mobilized. The village of
Beit Jinn was repeatedly bombarded from the air and with tank fire,
ultimately killing at least 20 Syrian villagers, including women and
children. Dozens more were also injured.

A number of competing narratives have since emerged, claiming to
characterise the situation that unfolded. The Israeli media began claiming
that the military was conducting an arrest operation when they were
suddenly ambushed, contradicting previous claims about a sweeping
operation.

In the end, the Israeli army announced it had kidnapped a number of Syrian
militants that it was pursuing and hence successfully completed its
“mission”. There were Israeli claims that these alleged militants were
suspected of previously firing rockets and planning past attacks on Israeli
forces near Dara’a, but they provided no evidence or the names of those
they kidnapped.

What we do know is that a Syrian fighter named Hassan Mohammed Abdul Razzaq
al-Saadi was killed in an armed clash with the Israeli military. We also
know that the ambush on the occupying force was carried out in close
quarters and that an Israeli armoured Humvee was destroyed. It also
confirmed that a rescue operation was carried out and that soldiers were
transported to different hospitals through airlifts, including to a medical
facility in Haifa. It is also apparent that the Syrian force that carried
out the ambush was armed with light weapons.

Israel claims that it bombed its own military vehicle after it had already
been rendered inoperable. However, there is no crater typically inflicted
by such an airstrike, meaning that it is possible it could have been
destroyed by the Syrian forces alone.

Another narrative produced by the Israeli media was that due to the clash
having been carried out at such a close range, the air force couldn’t
immediately intervene. This is also a questionable claim, as reports
initially indicated a fear of soldiers being taken captive, likely
indicating a loss of communications, and under such circumstances, the
infamous Hannibal Directive is routinely triggered.

Regardless of the specific details of the clash, which the Israelis are
infamous for concealing, Beit Jinn was besieged after it took place, and
emergency services were blocked from entering the village in order to tend
to the dozens of civilians wounded. The minaret of a local mosque was
struck and a building was bombed, burying civilians beneath it.
*Where Does This Lead?*

The armed clash, which has been characterised as the most intense since the
fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, occurred on the same day
that Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Shara’a, had previously called for mass
demonstrations.

Friday’s pre-planned demonstrations were called for after mass protests
across Homs and the Syrian coastal region by the Alawite minority sect
inside the country, following various cases of sectarian violence against
their communities. Sheikh Ghazal Ghazal, who leads the Supreme Alawite
Islamic Council, had urged his people to protest for both equality, also
communicate the message of federalism.

Ahmed al-Shara’a responded in a televised speech, after sectarian
counter-protests had also taken place, some calling for the extermination
of Syria’s Alawites, asserting that the country should do away with
sectarianism and reject dividing the country. However, despite his
statements about unity, many feared that his call for unity protests,
designed to celebrate the current administration, was going to trigger even
more sectarian demonstrations.

What ended up occurring was that many of the demonstrations, the largest of
which was the well-organized event in Damascus, turned into anti-Israel
protests instead. Sectarian chants were still present in Damascus and
elsewhere, yet the opposition to Israel’s attack on Beit Jinn and
celebrations of its resistance steered the street mobilizations, as many
called for retaliation and burned Israeli flags.

So far, the new Syrian leadership has refused to fire a single bullet
towards Israeli forces and has attempted, but failed, to disarm many
southern Syrian communities. Meanwhile, Ahmed al-Shara’a has welcomed
Zionist delegations to Damascus and opened direct communication, as well as
participated in negotiations, with the leadership in Tel Aviv. Despite
pleas for help from the people of Beit Jinn, no Syrian forces were
mobilized to aid them, leaving the village defenseless.

Initially, the Israelis accused the Islamic Group of being behind the
ambush against its occupying forces. Al-Jama’a Al-Islamiya, or the Islamic
Group, is a Lebanese resistance organisation rooted in the Muslim
Brotherhood; its armed wing is called the Fajr Forces. It is also known for
its close relationship with Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad
(PIJ), and other Palestinian factions. It later denied any involvement.

Blaming the Islamic Group enabled the Israelis to point their finger at
Iran and Hezbollah, yet there has been no proof presented to support this
notion. Additionally, later reports produced in the Hebrew media had
indicated that the ambush was spontaneous and not pre-planned, although
this is currently unconfirmed.

Some Syrian telegram channels later began claiming that an ISIS cell had
claimed responsibility, yet there were no official statements in this
regard, and it is more likely that ISIS supporters were spreading rumours
to bolster their image.

Finally, Al-Moqowameh Al-Wataniyeh Fe Souryia, which translates to the
Syrian National Resistance in English, released a video message claiming
their responsibility for the ambush operation. It is currently unclear who
runs this group, yet its logo does appear to be a similar design to Iranian
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) aligned movements. It is possible
that this group was responsible and had a cell waiting in the village of
Beit Jinn, as the Syrian National Resistance has claimed smaller attacks in
the past.

As details evidently remain scarce, it is important to consider the direct
repercussions of this major event. As a result, the Israeli military is
acting in a much more aggressive manner in southern Syria, where it has
already occupied over 400 square kilometers of territory. This is a portion
of land larger than the Gaza Strip.

Negotiations between the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leadership and Israel
on reaching a “security agreement” recently faltered, reportedly due to
Israeli demands that entailed handing over southern Syrian lands to it.
Therefore, the Israelis were already adopting a more aggressive approach
towards Damascus and this incident only encourages that trend further.

The Israelis have so far taken everything they have sought inside Syria,
without any demands or pushback from the leadership of Ahmed al-Shara’a.
Damascus even handed over the belongings of infamous Israeli spy Eli Cohen,
along with the bodies of Israeli soldiers captured in 1982, without
anything in return.

Meanwhile, the Israelis have destroyed the former Syrian Arab Army’s
strategic arsenal, seized key water assets in southern Syria, established
dominance over the high point of Jabal al-Sheik (Mount Hermon), begun
backing Druze separatist militias, murdered hundreds of Syrians, struck the
ministry of defense, and even bombed next to the Presidential Palace.

As this has been happening and the occupying forces seize more Syrian
lands, Ahmed al-Shara’a has been busy cosying up to the Trump
administration, playing basketball with the leaders of US Central Command,
not daring to impose any red lines on the Israelis, nor threaten
retaliation.

The lack of any threat from the rulers in Damascus is, however, irrelevant
to Tel Aviv’s calculations. If Ahmed al-Shara’a were to order any action
against them, or even enable Syrian militias to mobilize to confront the
occupying forces as they advance, the Israelis would likely eliminate the
Syrian leader with an airstrike.

So far, such an option has been avoided by the Israelis, not only due to
the closeness between Damascus and Washington, but also because they aren’t
currently facing any major threat from Syrian armed groups in the south of
the country. A move like this would probably trigger militant groups to
attack them, which would require a significant Israeli ground force to
combat.

It is therefore more likely that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu decides that the Syrian leadership has passed its usefulness to
them and is beginning to pose problems, they could, in fact, carry out an
assassination operation on the ground.

The aim of such an assassination attack, opposed to an airstrike, would be
to trigger a power struggle between competing Syrian armed factions, which
would weaken and distract them from an even greater Israeli incursion into
Syria. Simultaneously, its allied militia forces in Sweida could be called
upon to undertake specific military actions.

One potential problem lies in the way of Israel escalating to this extent,
the influence of Turkiye in the country, which has already rooted itself in
the Syrian city of Aleppo since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. It is unclear
just how far Ankara will go to maintain its strategic foothold in Syria. If
it seeks to combat the Israeli agenda, it may eventually choose to use
proxy forces in order to do this, although such a move would trigger a
major crisis and therefore is of lower likelihood.

The Israeli media have recently been claiming that PIJ is building its
strength and rapidly arming its fighters inside Syria, allegations that PIJ
denies as incitement against Palestinian refugees. It is reasonable to
assume that PIJ, which has long been rooted in Syria, does still possess
capabilities there, although these claims from the Israelis appear to be
geared towards pressuring the Syrian government to undergo a major
crackdown against Palestinian groups.

Factually, the current leadership in Damascus is extremely weak. It does
not possess a real army, instead drawing its power from militia groups,
many of which are sectarian extremist groups only mobilized for the purpose
of fighting other Syrian armed groups. If the current administration were
to wage war on Israel, it would suffer enormous losses, and Ahmed
al-Shara’a would become an immediate target for assassination. But such a
development is highly unlikely, as it appears there is no desire to follow
this path. If it occurs, it will be because Damascus has lost control of
the situation.

Saying this, there really is no other option except resistance for the
Syrian people if they hope to unite and rescue their country. This will
mean enormous sacrifice, but it is the only way to deter the Israelis from
continuing to seize more land and break the country into sectarian
mini-states.

The future of Syrian resistance could go in any direction from here.
Suddenly, there could be a mobilization of forces to combat Israel, but it
is more probable that the Israelis will use their air dominance over the
country to impose their will, while refraining from escalating the conflict
on the ground. If the Israelis choose to continue escalating on the ground,
it indicates that they see the collapse of the HTS administration as
imminent.

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*


*– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He
focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this
article to The Palestine Chronicle. *
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