IDF troops capture Hamas cell during nighttime operation in Syrian Golan Heights

Israeli troops apprehended several Hamas terrorists operating in the Syrian town of Beit Jinn, in the northern Golan Heights, in an overnight operation, the Israel Defense Forces reported on Thursday.

In a rare official acknowledgment of Israeli activity in Syrian territory, the IDF said the troops of the 3rd and 9th Brigades executed a “targeted nighttime operation in Syria.”

The operation was based on intelligence gathered in recent weeks and resulted in the capture of “several Hamas terrorists who had been attempting to advance multiple terror plots against Israeli civilians and IDF troops in Syria,” the IDF stated.

The terrorists were taken to Israel for further investigation by IDF Human Intelligence Unit 504.

OPERATION UPDATE.
Last night, troops of the 3rd Brigade, under the command of the 210th Division, completed an operation to apprehend Hamas terrorists operating in the Beit Jinn area of Syria.

Based on intelligence gathered in recent weeks, IDF troops executed a targeted… pic.twitter.com/c8zVSRz8NV

— Mark Israel (@MarkIsrael710) June 12, 2025

According to Army Radio, the entire operation lasted just 45 minutes and included simultaneous arrests of several suspects in different locations.

“The suspects arrested overnight behaved like terrorists in their routine activities and possessed a large quantity of weapons in their homes,” Army Radio’s military correspondent Doron Kadosh said.

The IDF reported that the soldiers “located and confiscated weapons in the area, including firearms, magazines and ammunition,” and published pictures of some of the weapons.

⭕️ IDF troops executed a targeted, intelligence-based nighttime operation in Syria and apprehended several Hamas terrorists who had been attempting to advance multiple terror plots against Israeli civilians and IDF troops in Syria. The terrorists were transferred to Israeli… pic.twitter.com/uC58bSSLR2

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 12, 2025

While besieging the home of the central suspect, the soldiers identified a suspicious figure fleeing the house. The troops perceived a threat and fired at the suspect, killing him in the process.

The report added that Beit Jinn, which lies on the slopes of Mount Hermon several kilometers east of the border, is one of the most distant locations where IDF soldiers have operated on the ground since transforming the former demilitarized zone into a buffer zone.

The Israeli security establishment classifies the small town as a significant Hamas stronghold, “containing an entire system of Hamas-related terrorism,” Kadosh said.

The Syrian Golan Heights saw the presence of various terror groups over the past decade, including ISIS-affiliated groups, Hamas, Hezbollah, and others.

“IDF troops continue to operate to eliminate all threats to the civilians of the State of Israel, in particular to the residents of the Golan Heights,” the military stated.

The Israeli operation comes as the political leadership appears to have opted to give diplomacy a chance and has begun to reach out to the new Syrian leadership under President Ahmad al-Sharaa.

Al-Sharaa has a long history of affiliation with several terror groups. His nom de guerre “al-Jolani” referrs to a purported family origin in the former Syrian Golan, which Israel annexed in 1981 after capturing it in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.