4 Israeli soldiers injured in ‘military activity’ in southern Syria, army says

The Israeli army said Wednesday that four soldiers were lightly wounded when munitions exploded during a military operation in southern Syria.

"During IDF (army) activity in southern Syria, a munition exploded in the area. As a result, four soldiers were lightly injured and were evacuated to a hospital," the army said in a statement.

The local daily Maariv reported the blast was caused by a grenade carried by an army unit during a mission in the occupied Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh) area in the occupied Golan Heights. The report said the grenade exploded as soldiers tried to move it, injuring them.

Israel has occupied most of Syria's Golan Heights since 1967. After the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, Israel also seized the Syrian buffer zone and declared the 1974 disengagement agreement between the two sides defunct.

The army has occupied the strategic Jabal al-Sheikh, which lies about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Damascus, on the border with Syria and Lebanon, overlooking Israel.

Although Syria's new administration under President Ahmad al-Sharaa has not threatened Israel, Israeli airstrikes have continued to hit Syrian territory, killing civilians and destroying Syrian army sites, vehicles and weapons.

Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia in December 2024, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963. A new transitional administration led by Sharaa was formed in January.