Syrian soldier said killed in Israeli drone strike near Golan border

A Syrian soldier was killed in an alleged Israeli drone strike in the town of Hader, close to the border with Israel in the Golan Heights, according to Syrian and Arab media reports Wednesday evening.

The pro-government Syrian newspaper Al-Watan, citing local sources, said 46-year-old Farid Fuad Mustafa was targeted in the strike. According to the pro-Hezbollah television network al-Mayadeen, the killed man was a member of the Syrian Arab Army.

Images circulated online showed Mustafa operating a truck-mounted machine gun.

The Israel Defense Forces refused to comment, in line with its longstanding policy of not officially acknowledging specific strikes in Syria, save for those that are in retaliation for attacks against Israel.

In the past, strikes on areas closer to the Israeli border in the Syrian Golan have targeted specific individuals suspected of plotting attacks against Israel or in the midst of carrying them out.

Israel has repeatedly accused the Syrian military of actively assisting the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group in the area.

The IDF has warned the Syrian military against this, both through flyers dropped along the border and through overt public appeals, in some cases naming the Syrian and Hezbollah officials involved, including officers from the SAA’s 90th Brigade and 1st Division.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria over the years and against Syrian military installations in cases where they were being used to attack Israel or Israeli forces.

Israel fears Iranian entrenchment on its northern frontier, and it has repeatedly struck Iran-linked facilities and weapons convoys destined for Hezbollah.