Six IDF soldiers wounded during counter-terror raid in southern Syria

A military spokesperson confirmed that, as troops made the arrests, they came under fire from unknown gunmen.

Several militants were killed in the exchange, with the Israeli Air Force providing cover in the form of helicopter and drone strikes.

Six soldiers sustained gunshot wounds, with three reported to be in serious condition.

The unit was also forced to abandon its Humvee vehicle in the area, which was later hit by an airstrike to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

Syrian state media has reported that ten people, including children, were among those killed in the strikes, though this has not been independently verified.

The raid occurred close to the border of the Golan Heights, around two-thirds of which was occupied by Israel in 1967, before being effectively annexed in 1981.

Jerusalem maintains that the territory is part of Israel, though the majority of the international community, including the UK, views it is occupied Syrian land.

Since a spate of ethnic violence against the Druze community in southern Syria, in which Syrian security forces participated, Israel has also established a “buffer zone” around the Golan Heights and refuses to allow the Syrian military to enter.

This is currently one of the key issues being discussed in US-mediated talks between the two nations, which Washington hopes will result in a security agreement between them, setting the stage for a wider normalisation of relations.

On an unprecedented visit to the White House earlier this month, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda-affiliated militant who led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad last December, claimed that US President Trump had backed his calls for Israel to withdraw from the buffer zone.

Interestingly, though, he did not make a security deal conditional on a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

But he rubbished the Israeli demand for a demilitarised zone in southern Syria, saying: "If this demilitarised zone was used by some parties as a launching pad for hitting Israel, who is going to be responsible for that?

"Israel occupied the Golan Heights in order to protect Israel, and now they are imposing conditions in the south of Syria in order to protect the Golan Heights.

"So after a few years, maybe they will occupy the centre of Syria in order to protect the south of Syria. They will reach Munich on that pathway."