An alleged Israeli airstrike near the Golan border killed three people in Syria, including the Syrian leader of a border village, according to local journalists.
Reports said that the head of the Ghadeer Al-Bustan village, “Abdo Al-Koumeh,” and two Public Security Directorate personnel were killed after an IDF airstrike targeted a military convoy of the Military Operations Administration during weapons inspection operations in the area.
The two other people killed were Public Security Directorate personnel who were inspecting the area.
Hours later the IDF issued a statement that its lookouts had seen armed Syrian vehicles maneuvering near the Israeli-established buffer zone on the Israeli-Syrian border.
It said that the air force fired warning shots to distance the vehicles from the buffer zone and that the vehicles moved away.
Quneitra: The head of Ghadeer Al-Bustan, “Abdo Al-Koumeh,” and two Public Security Directorate personnel were killed after an Israeli airstrike targeted a military convoy of the Military Operations Administration during weapon inspection operations in the area.
— Mohammad Alasakra (@mohammed_asakra) January 15, 2025
The IDF statement did not mention any deaths of Syrians
Pressed whether the incidents were the same incident and whether any Syrians were killed, an IDF source merely referred back to the public IDF statement, leaving it unclear whether the IDF maintains no one was killed or whether the IDF is trying to keep its head down given the sensitivity of killing Syrians in their own country and who are not affiliated with the Assad regime or Iran.