Rare IDF shootout with al-Jamaa al-Islamiyya terrorists in Syria

The IDF released the body-camera footage on Friday Southern SyriaWhere troops from the 55th Brigade were fired upon while arresting members of al-Jama’ al-Islamiyya, Israel recognizes the Sunni terrorist group as part of the wider Muslim Brotherhood network.

The cross-border gun battle comes as the Trump administration moves to target organizations affiliated with the Brotherhood and tensions between Netanyahu and Syria’s interim president rise.

The operation took place overnight in the Beit Jan area, about 10 kilometers inside Syria, under the 210th Division. According to the IDF, troops entered the area to detain suspects involved in planting IEDs and planning future attacks on Israel, including possible rocket fire. Two suspects were arrested before the shooting began.

Six IDF soldiers were injured and three are in critical condition. The IDF said several terrorists were killed and the suspects were transferred to Israel for questioning.

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IDF forces move through the Beit Jan neighborhood in southern Syria during an overnight operation to capture members of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked militant group al-Jama’ al-Islamiyya. (IDF) (IDF)

Al-Jamaa al-Islamiyya, founded as the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, has supported Hamas and Hezbollah by maintaining infrastructure. South Lebanon and on the Syria-Lebanon border. The IDF says it has repeatedly attacked the organization’s sites in Syria and Lebanon during the current war.

Channel 12 political correspondent Amit Segal noted on Friday that the incident is the first time since December 2024 — when Israeli forces took control of the Syrian side of Mount Herman — that Israeli soldiers were injured in Syrian shelling.

Segal wrote: “Could Syria become the IDF’s new Lebanon? … With six soldiers wounded overnight, the big question is whether this is a one-off incident, or the beginning of a long, uneasy Israeli presence in Syria.”

There is tension between Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Shara and Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu It has intensified since Shara’s unprecedented visit to Washington earlier this month. Shara met with President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss sanctions relief and counter-terrorism coordination, making him the first Syrian leader to visit Washington since the start of the Syrian war.

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Israeli forces secured the area around Beit Jan after detaining two suspects and shooting them in one of the deadliest clashes on the Syrian front this year. (IDF)

Netanyahu publicly criticized the visit later that day, saying Shaara “came back puffed up with a sense of international legitimacy” and warned that any US-Syria talks “must not come at Israel’s expense.”

Additional reports from the Jerusalem Post and Channel 12 noted that security arrangements affecting Israel’s northern front were discussed in broad terms between US and Syrian officials, although no agreements were reached, and Washington stressed that consultations with Israel were ongoing.

Friday’s standoff came in the same week that the Trump administration began an aggressive push to designate organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations. The White House directive directs federal agencies to evaluate and approve Brotherhood organizations in countries including Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, citing global economic, political and operational ties between the affiliates.

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IDF armored vehicles maneuver in the Beit Jan area of ​​southern Syria during an overnight counter-terrorism operation against al-Jama’ al-Islamiyya. (IDF)

A White House statement said the Brotherhood “fosters campaigns of terrorism and destabilization against U.S. interests and allies.”

Sen. Ted CruzR-Texas, praised the move on his podcast Verdict, telling co-host Ben Ferguson that the designation was the culmination of a decade of legislative efforts. “This is literally 10 years of hard work, and it will make America safer because the Muslim Brotherhood is funding terrorists who want to kill you and kill me,” Cruz said.

He noted that several US allies in the Middle East, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, have already outlawed the organization, telling the audience: “They really want the US to do what President Trump did this week.”

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As Washington steps up pressure on Brotherhood-linked movements, Israel has been confronting Brotherhood-linked armed groups in the northern region — from Hamas in Gaza to al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya in Syria and Lebanon.

Beit Jann is emerging as a focal point for Cross-border operationsAnd as US policy tightens, analysts say regional conflicts involving Brotherhood-connected groups may be entering a new phase.