Israeli forces abduct seven Syrians in deadly cross-border 'anti-Hamas raid'

Israeli forces on Thursday abducted several people in a raid on southern Syria on Thursday, taking them back to Israel for interrogation.

Syria's Interior Ministry said the seven abducted people were civilians, adding that one person was killed by Israeli fire.

The ministry slammed the attack as a "blatant violation" of the Syria's sovereignty.

"We affirm that these repeated provocations constitute a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic," the ministry said in a statement, adding that "these practises cannot lead the region to stability and will only result in further tension and turmoil," a statement said.

Around 100 Israeli troops crossed into southwestern Syria, Syria TV reported, carrying out raids on the town of Beit Jinn.

Asked whether anyone was killed in its raid, the Israeli military told Reuters that "a hit was identified".

The army said it had carried out the raid "based on intelligence gathered in recent weeks", alleging that Hamas operatives were planning attacks on Israeli forces in Syria. It also claimed it had confiscated weapons from the area. 

Hamas has yet to respond to the claims.

Israel has carried out repeated attacks and raids on Syria, escalating strikes on military sites and occupying more territory since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December.

During a visit to France last month, Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said that his country is holding indirect talks with Israel to prevent hostilities from getting out of control.

On Wednesday, the Hebrew-language Walla news website cited two unnamed sources who said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently informed US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack that he was interested in negotiating with the new Syrian government.

Barrack recently described the tensions as a "solvable problem", signalling a thaw in relations between the two countries.

While carrying out attacks on Syria, Israel's government has also reached out to its new authorities, including through mediators and allegedly secret direct meetings.

Damascus has said its focus is on rebuilding the country after 14 years of war, stressing that it does not want conflict with its neighbours.

SDF dismantles IS cell

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Thursday said it had carried out a raid on an Islamic State (IS) group cell in the town of Mansoura, west of Raqqa city.

The SDF said in a statement that "the operation was carried out after careful monitoring and continuous surveillance of the cell's movements, which enabled it to locate its hiding place, surround it, and arrest two main members: Abdul Sattar Abdul Fattah al-Muhammad, nicknamed Abu Amira, and his brother Muhammad Abdul Fattah al-Muhammad, nicknamed Abu al-Baraa, both from the city of Mansoura".

According to the statement, the two brothers allegedly worked in the explosives industry and ran a lathe workshop specialising in the manufacture of silencers and explosive devices for IS.

Elsewhere in Syria on Wednesday evening, a former member of the deposed regime's forces was killed by unknown gunmen in the town of Al-Hari, east of Deir az-Zour, on the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Local sources told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that two gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire with a machine gun on Khattab Al-Ahrash near his home on the outskirts of the town, killing him instantly. 

The sources indicated that Al-Ahrash had belonged to the Assad regime army's Fourth Division, known for drug production and crimes against civilians.