The Israeli Raid on Bayt Jann: Interview with a Local
Recently, the town of Bayt Jann, which is located in the Jabal al-Shaykh (Mount Hermon) region of Damascus countryside near the borders with Lebanon and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, came to the forefront of international media attention because of an Israeli raid into the town that resulted in the killing of a number of locals and the wounding of a number of Israeli soldiers, who encountered local resistance. Israeli forces conducted the raid on the basis of dismantling an ‘Islamic Group’ and/or Hamas cell that was plotting to attack Israel. For its part, Lebanon’s Islamic Group (al-Jama‘a al-Islamiya) has denied operating outside Lebanon and claims to adhere to the ceasefire negotiated between Israel and Lebanon following Hezbollah’s defeat in last year’s war.
One of the main ironies of the raid is that Bayt Jann was a place where insurgents backed by Israel operated against the Assad regime: in particular, ‘Moro’ (Iyad Kamal), the commander of the Omar bin al-Khattab Brigade, received Israeli backing. He subsequently did ‘taswiya’ (regularisation of status) when the regime reimposed its control and became part of a local holding force that was affiliated with the military intelligence but was eventually dismantled by the regime. ‘Moro’ was assassinated in 2022.
In general, the raid is emblematic of Israel’s approach to the new Syrian government that has been too hostile from the outset. Even as the new government has shown it is not interested in a confrontation and would like to reach a security agreement with Israel, the Israeli approach has been one of launching incursions based on pre-empting any possible threats. However, it was predictable that these incursions bore the risk of generating at least some local armed resistance.
Below is a brief interview with one Abu Ubayda al-Janani, who is from Bayt Jann, regarding the Israeli raid and his reaction to it.