DAMASCUS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Six civilians were killed and several others injured after Israeli forces shelled the town of Koayiah in the southern Syrian province of Daraa on Tuesday, according to Syria's foreign affairs authorities.

In a statement, the authorities said the bombardment was "part of an ongoing series of violations" carried out by Israeli forces in Daraa and neighboring Quneitra province.

The authorities denounced the "continued Israeli aggression on Syrian territory," and urged an international investigation into the Israeli "massacre against innocent civilians."

The authorities also called for respecting Syria's sovereignty and adhering to international law.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said the death toll from the shelling has reached seven, adding that it followed an attempt by Israeli forces to advance into Koayiah from the Al-Wadi area before clashing with "young men in the region," who forced Israeli forces to withdraw.

Also on Tuesday, an Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement that troops from the Israel Defense Forces "identified several terrorists who opened fire toward them in southern Syria," and thus "returned fire in response," with the Air Force striking them.

The spokesperson added that "hits were identified."

The strike was the latest in a series of Israeli airstrikes in recent months, following the deployment of Israeli troops into the United Nations-monitored buffer zone within Syria and their seizure of the Syrian side of Mount Hermon in the occupied Golan Heights.

Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israel has destroyed military installations and equipment belonging to the former Syrian army and continued strikes on military targets in the south.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously stated that Israel would not tolerate a military presence in southern Syria and the outskirts of Damascus. Syria's interim authorities, who deposed al-Assad's government, have rejected Israel's position. Enditem

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