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<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div><h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Beit Jinn Massacre: Syrians Begin Resisting Israeli Occupation Alone \u2013 Analysis</h1>November 29, 2025</div>
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<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Syria_Strike_SANAA.png" alt="" title="Syria_Strike_SANAA" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="428" height="287" style="margin-right: 25px;">
An Israeli airstrike targeted the village of Beit Jinn in Syria. (Photo: via SANA news agency)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/robert-inlakesh" title="Display all articles for Robert Inlakesh">Robert Inlakesh</a></strong></p>
<blockquote>
<h3>Syrians in Beit Jinn confronted Israeli forces without support from
Damascus, signalling a potential new phase of grassroots armed
resistance.</h3>
</blockquote>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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 \u201csweeping\u201d operation had taken
place, during which the occupation soldiers were subjected to a sudden,
violent ambush.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>In the end, the Israeli army announced it had kidnapped a
number of Syrian militants that it was pursuing and hence successfully
completed its \u201cmission\u201d. There were Israeli claims that these alleged
militants were suspected of previously firing rockets and planning past
attacks on Israeli forces near Dara\u2019a, but they provided no evidence or
the names of those they kidnapped.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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\u2019t 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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<h4><b>Where Does This Lead?</b></h4>
<p><span>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\u2019s new leader, Ahmed al-Shara\u2019a, had
previously called for mass demonstrations.</span></p>
<p><span>Friday\u2019s 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.</span></p>
<p><span>Ahmed al-Shara\u2019a responded in a televised speech, after
sectarian counter-protests had also taken place, some calling for the
extermination of Syria\u2019s 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.</span></p>
<p><span>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\u2019s attack on Beit
Jinn and celebrations of its resistance steered the street
mobilizations, as many called for retaliation and burned Israeli flags.</span></p>
<p><span>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\u2019a 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.</span></p>
<p><span>Initially, the Israelis accused the Islamic Group of being
behind the ambush against its occupying forces. Al-Jama\u2019a 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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>Negotiations between the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leadership
and Israel on reaching a \u201csecurity agreement\u201d 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.</span></p>
<p><span>The Israelis have so far taken everything they have sought
inside Syria, without any demands or pushback from the leadership of
Ahmed al-Shara\u2019a. 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.</span></p>
<p><span>Meanwhile, the Israelis have destroyed the former Syrian Arab
Army\u2019s 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.</span></p>
<p><span>As this has been happening and the occupying forces seize more
Syrian lands, Ahmed al-Shara\u2019a 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.</span></p>
<p><span>The lack of any threat from the rulers in Damascus is, however,
irrelevant to Tel Aviv\u2019s calculations. If Ahmed al-Shara\u2019a 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. </span></p>
<p><span>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\u2019t 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.</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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\u2019a 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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><em>(The Palestine Chronicle)</em></p>
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<p><br></p>
<p><span><em>\u2013 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. </em></span></p></div>
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