Israel holds Syrian leader accountable after projectile launches

CAIRO - Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he held Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa responsible after the military said two projectiles launched from Syria on Tuesday.

"We consider the president of Syria directly responsible for any threat and fire toward the State of Israel, and a full response will come soon," Katz said.

Syria and Israel have recently engaged in direct talks to ease tensions, a significant development in relations between states that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decades.

The Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement that reports of the launches towards the Israeli side "have not been verified yet," reiterating that Syria has not and will not pose a threat to any party in the region, the state news agency SANA reported.

However, it was not immediately clear who was responsible for the projectiles.

"We believe that there are many parties that may seek to destabilize the region to achieve their own interests," the ministry added.

The Israeli military earlier said that two projectiles crossed from Syria towards Israel and fell in open areas.

Several Arab and Palestinian media outlets circulated a claim of responsibility from a little-known group named "Martyr Muhammad Deif Brigades," an apparent reference to Hamas' military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024.

Reuters could not independently verify the statement.

The Israeli army shortly after said it attacked southern Syria with artillery fire following the projectiles that were launched on Israel.

Syrian state media said Israel struck an area in the southern Daraa province, an attack the Syrian foreign ministry later said resulted in "significant human and material losses."

Local residents said Israeli mortars were striking the Wadi Yarmouk area, west of Daraa province, near the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The area has witnessed increased tensions in recent weeks, including reported Israeli military incursions into nearby villages, where residents have reportedly been barred from sowing their crops.

Israel has waged a campaign of aerial bombardment that destroyed much of the country's military infrastructure that intensified under the new leadership.

It also has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and taken more territory in the aftermath of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ouster in December, citing lingering concerns over the extremist past of the country's new rulers.

Around the same time that Israel reported the projectiles from Syria, the military said it intercepted a missile from Yemen.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said they targeted Israel's Jaffa with a ballistic missile. The group has been launching attacks against Israel in what they say is in support of Palestinians during the Israeli war in Gaza.