DOHA, February 10. /TASS/. The Palestinian group Hamas is not operating within Syria, and Israel targeted facilities belonging to the former Syrian government’s army during its strike on the Deir Ali area in the Damascus governorate, the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported, citing a source close to Hamas.

"Hamas left Syria in the early years of the war. [Hamas] officials visited Damascus during the ousted regime, but the movement never truly returned to the country and has no active presence inside Syria," the anonymous source explained to the newspaper. "Israel is lying; it attacked former Syrian army facilities," the Asharq Al-Awsat source claimed.

On February 8, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press service reported that the Israeli air force had struck a Hamas weapons storage facility in the Deir Ali area of southern Syria. According to Syria’s Al-Suweida-24 news outlet, the Israeli air force hit the warehouse, which was storing weapons seized by the new Syrian authorities from former fighters under the ousted government. The attack resulted in one fatality and three injuries.

In late November, members of armed opposition groups launched a major offensive against government positions in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates. By December 7, opposition forces had captured several major cities, including Aleppo, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Deraa, and Homs. They entered Damascus on December 8, prompting the withdrawal of Syrian army units from the city. On the same day, the Israeli military seized control of the Syrian side of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights without facing resistance. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the 1974 power-sharing agreement with Syria was no longer valid since Syrian forces had vacated the area following the change of power in Damascus. On December 12, the the Israeli army press service reported that the air force had destroyed over 90% of the identified stockpile of surface-to-air missiles in a series of large-scale strikes on Syria.