JERUSALEM/DAMASCUS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that it fired toward a militant who was in the final stages of preparing an attack in southern Syria.
In a statement, the IDF claimed that the militant's activity posed an immediate threat to Israeli soldiers, adding that it would continue to operate to remove threats to its soldiers and Israeli civilians.
Also on Saturday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported that a civilian was injured when an Israeli drone targeted a car in the town of Beit Jinn in southwestern Damascus. The injured person was transferred to a hospital.
The report did not identify the person targeted or provide details about the circumstances surrounding the strike.
Following the attack, Syria's foreign affairs authority condemned "in the strongest terms" what it described as the Israeli occupation forces' targeting of a civilian vehicle, saying the attack resulted in several injuries among civilians.
The authority said the attack constituted "a blatant violation" of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity and a flagrant breach of international law, adding that it came amid repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented 57 Israeli attacks on Syrian territory since the beginning of 2026, including six air attacks and 51 ground attacks.
The latest strike took place days after Israeli airstrikes targeting the Abu al-Duhur military airport in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, which caused material damage but no casualties. The airport, a major Syrian airbase, is situated near routes linking parts of Idlib, Aleppo and Hama provinces.
On Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the Tuesday strikes on the Syrian military airport were in response to "clear intelligence" received about Türkiye's intentions to carry out actions there that would endanger Israel's security.
Katz said the Israeli military had recommended several times to attack the airport, rejecting claims by the Israeli opposition that the operation was carried out for political reasons ahead of Israel's general elections on Oct. 27. ■
