Are Israeli and Syrian security forces cooperating on the ground in southern Syria?

The IDF on Thursday said it operated overnight in the area of the Tasil Dam in the Daraa countryside, in southwestern Syria. According to the IDF, the operation was confiscating weapons and destroying terrorist infrastructure in the area.

In one of the videos that emerged from the area during the operation, there is a convoy of Syrian pickups bearing the logo of Syria's General Security Service, with AK-47-wielding gunmen standing in the back. Standing out is a military jeep without a license plate, which highly resembles an IDF jeep.

Israeli military experts and Syrian sources I spoke with did not rule out the option that this was indeed an Israeli military jeep. The presence of such a jeep would indicate that there is active cooperation on the ground between Syrian government forces and Israeli Army or Shin Bet forces.

The area of last night's operation includes elements who fiercely oppose the rule of President Ahmed al-Sharaa. One of the major local leaders heading this dissent is Ahmed al-Odeh, a radical Islamist who has been engaged in clashes with forces belonging to the new Syrian administration.

Given previously known cooperation between Israeli security bodies and Jabhat al-Nusra, the former iteration of al-Sharaa's Hiyat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), it is even possible that these are elements that have worked together in the past.

Additionally, the Syrian Interior Ministry issued a statement condemning last night’s Israeli airstrikes on various military installations across Syria. The statement said dozens of civilians and military personnel were injured in the strikes. There was no mention of the 10 Syrians killed in clashes with Israeli forces, as reported by Syrian media.

The IDF did not comment on this story.