Five people were killed, and ten others, including a girl, were injured as a preliminary toll from Israeli tank shells in the Yarmouk Basin in southern Syria, following resistance from the villagers against the Israeli incursion.

A reporter for Enab Baladi stated today, Tuesday, March 25, that young men from the village of Koya in southern Daraa resisted an incursion by the Israeli army, which responded with gunfire, killing two. The Israeli tanks then shelled the homes in the village with about ten shells, causing casualties and injuries among civilians.

The village also witnessed a displacement of residents following the shelling, amid the presence of Israeli reconnaissance planes flying over the area.

The Daraa governorate reported that five were killed and others were injured due to Israeli shelling, followed by tank shells on the town during the Israeli army’s incursion, coinciding with reconnaissance aircraft flying in the region.

The website “Horan Free League,” which specializes in reporting news from the area, reported that at least four were killed and ten others were injured due to the Israeli shelling of Koya, leading to the displacement of residents.

The site added that the Israeli army heavily shelled the village with shells from tanks stationed in the Jazira barracks, coinciding with the flight of reconnaissance and Israeli helicopters.

It was further noted that the young men from the village confronted Israeli patrols attempting to invade the village, leading to clashes and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the village’s outskirts.

The residents of Koya appealed to the international and local communities to intervene and stop the shelling, amid the absence of a medical point within the village to assist the injured, according to the Horan Free League website.

According to journalist Omar al-Hariri, the Israeli army demanded that the residents of Koya leave within two hours.

On his part, the spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, stated that Israeli forces observed this morning a number of what he called “terrorist elements” who opened fire towards the army in southern Syria, prompting a response from a drone, which resulted in injuries among them.

Adraee did not mention the tank shells on the village.

Israeli security reality

This escalation is considered the first of its kind in the region, as the Israeli army launched bursts of gunfire and mortar shells at the town of Koya on March 11, in response to fire from the Syrian side from a distance of about two kilometers.

At that time, neither the mortar shell nor the bullets caused any damage, according to an Enab Baladi reporter.

Israel imposes a security reality on the villages in the western countryside of Daraa in southern Syria, having recently intensified raids in the villages of Ma’riya, Jamla, and Abidin, besieging some houses under the pretext of searching for weapons.

Residents in the border villages with the occupied Syrian Golan fear an advance by the Israeli forces and the occupation of some villages, especially after the absence of any deterrent force to prevent their advance.

Continued shelling

The Israeli army continues to strike sites within Syria almost daily, resulting in fatalities and injuries among civilians, as well as material damage.

Today, the Israeli army announced the targeting of two military sites in the Homs countryside, striking remaining military capabilities in the Palmyra and T4 military bases.

The Israeli shelling on Homs came days after similar shelling in the area on March 21.

Israel states that it will continue its strikes on sites in Syria to protect its security and eliminate any threat to its citizens.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that he would not allow any military presence of the new authority in Damascus in the southern provinces of Syria: Daraa, As-Suwayda, and Quneitra.