Explosion near Damascus Leaves Eight Syrian Soldiers Dead and Wounded amid Israeli Overflights
Explosion near Damascus kills 4 Syrian soldiers, wounds 4 amid reports of Israeli overflights. The blast in Kiswa occurred hours after another Israeli strike in Quneitra. Syria condemns the attacks as violations of international law.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An explosion struck the southern outskirts of Damascus on Tuesday, killing four Syrian soldiers and wounding four others, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The blast occurred in the town of Kiswa, southwest of the capital, amid simultaneous reports of Israeli aerial activity in the area.
Rami Abdulrahman, director of the UK-based Observatory, told Kurdistan 24 that the attack claimed the lives of four members of the Syrian army’s 44th Division, including at least one officer, while four others sustained injuries.
The explosion, which took place on Tuesday, has not been officially attributed to any side. However, eyewitness accounts and monitoring groups reported Israeli drone flights over Rif Damascus at the time of the incident.
The development comes only hours after Syrian state media confirmed that an Israeli strike in the southern Quneitra countryside killed one civilian in the village of Taranja, situated near the armistice line on the occupied Golan Heights. Damascus condemned that attack as a “flagrant violation” of international law, accusing Israel of continued incursions into Syrian territory and arrests of civilians.
“The persistence of Israeli aggressions constitutes a direct threat to peace and security in the region,” Syria’s foreign ministry said, denouncing Israel’s “illegal presence” on Mount Hermon and in the buffer zone established under the 1974 disengagement accord.
The blast near Damascus comes against the backdrop of U.S.-brokered talks between Syria and Israel. On August 20, Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani met with an Israeli delegation in Paris to discuss de-escalation measures and non-interference in Syria’s internal affairs.
The discussions were described as part of ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at “enhancing stability in Syria and preserving the unity of its territory,” according to Syria’s official news agency (SANA). Previous encounters had taken place in Paris and in Baku in July, where Shaibani met Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.
While both sides remain technically at war since 1948, the recent series of meetings has included deliberations on reviving the 1974 disengagement accord, which created a UN-patrolled buffer zone following the Yom Kippur War.
Despite a truce reached in November 2024, Israel has intensified strikes inside Syria, targeting areas linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah. Hundreds of Israeli attacks have been reported since the Islamist-led alliance ousted Bashar al-Assad in December 2023, fundamentally reshaping the political and security landscape of the country.
Damascus continues to condemn these operations as violations of Syrian sovereignty, while Israel insists they are necessary for its security, citing Hezbollah’s entrenched presence along the Syrian-Lebanese frontier and threats emanating from southern Syria.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has previously warned that Damascus would “pay with compound interest” for any hostile actions, reinforcing Israel’s readiness to maintain military pressure despite diplomatic engagement.
The latest explosion in Kiswa, which claimed the lives of two Syrian army personnel, underscores the fragility of Syria’s security environment amid overlapping military, political, and diplomatic developments.
As Washington intensifies mediation between Damascus and Tel Aviv, the persistence of Israeli military activity risks undermining confidence in the talks. For Syrian civilians and soldiers alike, the toll of violence continues to mount, raising questions about whether dialogue or confrontation will ultimately define the next phase of Syrian-Israeli relations.
