Syria said on Monday that Israel had sent 60 soldiers to take control of an area inside the Syrian border around Mount Hermon, saying the operation violated its sovereignty and posed a further threat to regional security.
Israel did not immediately comment on the accusation by Syria's foreign ministry, which comes as the two countries engage in US-mediated talks on de-escalating their conflict in southern Syria. Damascus hopes to reach a security arrangement that could eventually pave the way for broader political talks.
The area around Beit Jinn is known for arms smuggling by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group and by Palestinian jihadist factions. Previous Israeli incursions have mostly been in the southern Quneitra governorate.
Monday's incident took place near a strategic hilltop that overlooks Beit Jinn, an area of southern Syria close to the border with Lebanon, the ministry said. Israel also arrested six Syrians there, according to residents in the area.
IDF troops from the 474th Brigade in the 210th Division arrested and interrogated terror suspects and raided weapons depots in southern Syria, the military said Sunday.
Soldiers seized RPG missiles, IEDs, Kalashnikov-type rifles, and a large amount of ammunition. The IDF added that all the weapons were confiscated by soldiers.
"This dangerous escalation is considered a direct threat to regional peace and security," the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Israel's protection of Syrian Druze in Sweida
Israel has cited its own security concerns for its military interventions inside Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad last December, including what it sees as its obligation to protect members of the Druze minority in southern Syria.
Hundreds of people were reported killed in clashes last month in the southern province of Sweida between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes and government forces. Israel intervened with airstrikes to prevent what it said was mass killings of Druze by the Syrian government forces.
In January, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli troops would remain on the summit of Mount Hermon indefinitely.
Israel has since then formed a de facto security zone, where it regularly patrols, sets up checkpoints, and carries out searches and raids in villages.