IDF activity in Beit Jinn (IDF Spokesperson, November 28, 2025)
IDF activity in Beit Jinn (IDF Spokesperson, November 28, 2025)
An IDF vehicle that was left in Beit Jinn after the incident and was bombed by the IDF from the air
Destruction in Beit Jinn following the exchange of fire (SANA, December 28, 2025)
Fighters of the Al-Fajr Forces (Al-Manar, July 22, 2024)
Matan Daniel
Overview[1]
- On the night of November 27-28, 2025, IDF fighters operated in the village of Beit Jinn in southern Syria as part of an arrest operation against Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya terrorist operatives who were planning attacks against IDF forces and Israeli territory. In the ensuing exchange of fire, six IDF soldiers were wounded and about 20 terrorist operatives were eliminated.
- Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya is a Sunni Islamist movement that is the offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Lebanon. The movement has a close ideological connection with Hamas and cooperates with Hezbollah, and its military wing operatives took part in the campaign against Israel in Lebanon after the October 7, 2023 attack. After the incident in Beit Jinn, the movement denied any involvement and claimed that it operates only in Lebanon.
- The Syrian regime condemned the “aggression” in Beit Jinn and called it a “war crime.” Senior regime officials accused Israel of wanting to destabilize the country and stressed that the “civilians” would defend themselves “by all means.”
- The exposure of the terrorist infrastructure in Beit Jinn indicates a renewed establishment of terrorist elements affiliated with Iran and its proxies in southern Syria. In the ITIC’s assessment, the continuation of Israeli counterterrorism activity against terrorist threats in southern Syria, alongside the Syrian regime’s inability to impose its authority on the various elements operating in the area due to the Israeli demand to demilitarize the area, may lead to continued attempts by armed organizations to establish themselves and carry out attacks against IDF forces and Israeli territory.
The Beit Jinn Incident
- On the night of November 27-28, 2025, IDF forces operated in the village of Beit Jinn in southern Syria to arrest suspects belonging to the al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya organization.[2] According to the IDF announcement, during the operation, fire was opened toward IDF forces, who returned fire with the assistance of the Israeli Air Force. It was further reported that the operation was completed with the detention of all suspects and the elimination of several terrorists. Six IDF soldiers were wounded in the exchange of fire, two of them seriously (IDF Spokesperson, November 28, 2025).
- According to reports, the operation was intended to prevent al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya from acquiring rockets meant to be launched at Israeli territory. It was also reported that in recent months, there have been further attempts by various terrorist organizations to establish infrastructure in the Syrian Golan Heights that could threaten IDF forces in the buffer zone or Israeli communities (Israeli media, November 28–30, 2025).
IDF activity in Beit Jinn (IDF Spokesperson, November 28, 2025)
- “A source from one of the countries of the region who was briefed on the details of the terror operatives’ arrests” reported that the detainees admitted during interrogations to having links with Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah. They also confessed to receiving funding to arm themselves and carry out attacks against Israel (Israeli TV channel Kan 11, November 29, 2025). On the other hand, al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya condemned the “attack on the town and its residents” and claimed they were surprised by the inclusion of their name in the reports of the “Israeli occupation” and the accusation of their involvement. In this context, in their statement, they claimed that al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya is a Lebanese movement and does not operate outside Lebanon. Additionally, the statement emphasized the movement’s commitment to fulfill Lebanese obligations under the ceasefire agreement with the “occupation” and noted that it is committed to operating under the law (al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya Telegram channel, November 28, 2025).
- The Syrian media reported that a “squad of the occupation” raided the village of Beit Jinn on the outskirts of Damascus, artillery was fired, and airstrikes were carried out against the village, and that “there are clashes between the residents and the Israeli occupation.” It was also claimed that due to Israeli activity, emergency and rescue forces were not allowed to enter Beit Jinn for hours, and that some of the villagers abandoned their homes. According to reports, at least 20 people were killed in the “Israeli aggression” (Syria TV and SANA News Agency, November 29-30, 2025).
Right: An IDF vehicle that was left in Beit Jinn after the incident and was bombed by the IDF from the air. Left: Destruction in Beit Jinn following the exchange of fire (SANA, November 28, 2025)
- The incident in the village of Beit Jinn provoked angry reactions in Syria. During the demonstrations held in the country to mark the first anniversary of the rebel offensive that toppled the Assad regime, calls were also heard against the “Israeli aggression,” alongside expressions of support for the residents of southern Syria in general and Beit Jinn in particular (Syrian News YouTube channel, November 28, 2025). The Syrian regime also issued condemnations against Israel:
- The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the “criminal attack carried out by an occupation army patrol” that “blatantly attacked the residents of Beit Jinn and their property” and accused Israel of committing a “war crime.” The ministry said it held the Israeli authorities fully responsible for “the grave aggression, losses, and destruction” and warned that the continued attacks posed “a threat to security and stability in the region” (Telegram channel of the Syrian Foreign Ministry, November 28, 2025).
- Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said that the “Israeli occupation” wants Syria to be divided and weak because the current government “poses a threat to it.” He accused Israel of “invading our territory in order to provoke, evade the security agreement, and create a reality of confrontation, so that it can impose its will by force.” Al-Mustafa added that the incident in Beit Jinn is a wake-up call for Israel, because “when the Syrian citizens are faced with the choice of life or death, they will defend themselves and their country by all means.” Al-Mustafa acknowledged that Israel has legitimate security concerns, but reiterated the regime’s position that it seeks to focus on stability and development and does not want Syria to serve as a launchpad for any action (Syrian state television, November 28, 2025).
- Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Ibrahim Alabi, said they would update the UN Security Council on the incident in Beit Jinn, and that the issue would also be raised at President Ahmed al-Shara’s meeting with a Security Council delegation that would visit the country. Alabi noted that they would exert pressure on Israel “by all means,” but added that “responding to Israeli provocations will cost us political achievements.” He said that a security agreement with Israel would not be reached before the cessation of the attacks (Al-Hadath, November 28, 2025).
- The attack took place amid Israeli concerns that Iran and its proxies, mainly Hezbollah and Hamas, are trying to reestablish themselves in the Syrian Golan Heights and southern Syria after pro-Iranian militias were pushed out of the region following the December 2024 revolution.[3] According to reports, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are operating with the knowledge of the Al-Shara regime (Israeli TV channel Kan 11, November 26-27, 2025). A day before the incident in Beit Jinn, it was reported that Israeli Minister of Defense Yisrael Katz said that there are elements in southern Syria thinking of carrying out a ground attack on the Golan Heights, including the Houthis (Israeli media, November 27, 2025).
- One of the new organizations that appeared in southern Syria was the “Islamic Resistance Front in Syria – Possessors of Might (Uli al-Baas, or UAB)”, which claimed to belong to the “axis of resistance” and issued statements against the Israeli presence in Syrian territory, along with claiming responsibility for military operations against IDF forces in southern Syria. After the incident in Beit Jinn, the “Resistance Front” issued a statement condemning it, accusing it of being part of “an ongoing series of provocations that have lasted for decades, but have intensified and become more serious recently.” The organization stressed that it would not allow Israel to achieve its “colonial goals” and called Syria “the stronghold of the Arab resistance.” The statement also said that they would continue to “resist until we liberate Syria and Palestine from the Israeli occupation and achieve victory” (Telegram channel of the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria, November 29, 2025).
Appendix: Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya[4]
- Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya is a Sunni Islamist movement established in 1964 as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Lebanon. The movement, which has made it its mission to implement Islamic Sharia in Lebanon, has a presence in most parts of the country. The organization operates a military wing called the Al-Fajr Forces (Quwwat al-Fajr), established in 1982 at the outbreak of the First Lebanon War, and it operated against the IDF in Lebanon until the IDF’s withdrawal in 2000. This force, numbering about 500 fighters, was concentrated in Sidon and its surroundings, and estimates suggest the situation remained the same during Israel’s northern campaign as part of the Swords of Iron war (Al-Jazeera, May 11, 2024).
Fighters of the Al-Fajr Forces (Al-Manar, July 22, 2024)
- As an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement maintains close ideological ties and cooperation with Hamas, and it is claimed that Hamas even pays the salaries of some members of the Lebanese movement. According to other reports, Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya has carried out “joint operations” with Hamas as part of the fighting in southern Lebanon since October 8, 2023, and in some cases, al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya and Hamas have issued joint statements about dead operatives. Two operatives of Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiya were killed in the Israeli attack in which the deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, Salah al-Arouri, was eliminated.
- Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya also maintains ties and cooperation with Hezbollah, despite the big ideological differences between the two movements, and the two organizations even worked together against IDF forces after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. At the beginning of the campaign in southern Lebanon in October 2023, senior members of Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiya hinted that there was cooperation, or at least coordination, with Hezbollah. At least ten Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiya operatives were killed during the campaign, some of whom were described as commanders.
- IDF operations against the movement continued even during the ceasefire in Lebanon. In April 2025, the IDF eliminated Hussein Izzat Mohammad Atwi, a senior figure in Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya, who was claimed to have been involved in rocket fire toward Israel, attempts to infiltrate Israeli territory, promoting terrorist activity against IDF forces and Israeli targets worldwide, and cooperating with Hamas’s branch in Lebanon (IDF Spokesperson, April 22, 2025).
- On November 24, 2025, US President Donald Trump issued a presidential order directing the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury to prepare a report within thirty days on designating parts of the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations, including the Lebanese branch, namely Al-Jama’ah Al-Islamiya, and the branches in Egypt and Jordan. The order stated that following the October 7, 2023 attack, the military wing of the Lebanese branch joined Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian factions in launching numerous rockets toward civilian and military targets in Israel (White House website, November 24, 2025).
[1] Click https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en to subscribe and receive the ITIC's daily updates as well as its other publications.
[2] For further information on the Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiya movement, see the appendix.
[3] For further information, see the ITIC’s study from September 1, 2025, “Is South Syria a Terrorist Threat to Israel? The Islamic Resistance Front in Syria, a Test Case”
[4] The appendix is based on an ITIC study from September 1, 2024, “The Organizations Assisting Hezbollah in Combat Against Israel”
