Israel conducts rare Syria raid, captures militant

Israeli soldiers captured Iran-backed Syrian militant Ali Soleiman al-Assi in a nighttime raid over the weekend, the Israeli military said on Sunday. Israel Defense Forces described the raid as intelligence-based and claimed it would not allow Tehran’s proxy militant groups in Syria to threaten Israeli citizens.

Who is this terrorist? Before his arrest, al-Assi worked for an Iranian proxy group based in Syria, the Israeli military said. Israeli intelligence officials were observing him as he was gathering intelligence about Israeli troops on the Israel-Syria border. The military claimed his intelligence-gathering activities aimed to support future terrorist attacks against Israel.

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