Israeli tank catches fire during ‘routine activity’ in southern Syria, military says

JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

The Israeli army said on Wednesday that a military tank was burned after catching fire during a “routine activity” in southern Syria.

“An IDF (army) tank that was on routine activity in southern Syria caught fire due to a technical malfunction,” a military statement said.

The army said the incident is being investigated, without specifying the nature of the routine activity.

No injuries were reported.

On Tuesday, Israeli drones attacked Syrian army positions in the Damascus countryside, killing six soldiers near al-Kiswah city.

Israeli forces also raided the Quneitra countryside, located within the disengagement zone in the occupied Golan Heights in southern Syria on Tuesday, killing one resident and arresting another.

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 Disengagement Agreement with Syria.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia in December, ending the Ba'ath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963. A new transitional administration led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa was formed in January.