A Jordanian airstrike on southern Syria’s Daraa province has resulted in the deaths of several civilians, including children, prompting condemnation from Damascus and escalating tensions between the two neighbors. The strike took place on Monday, targeting what Jordan described as Islamic State (IS) group fighters and a weapons depot near the border village of Al-Taf.

According to reports from the Syrian government, seven people were killed, among them three children. Jordan, however, asserted that more than 20 IS militants were killed in the operation. Jordan’s military acknowledged civilian casualties but maintained that efforts were made to avoid locations inhabited by non-combatants.

The affected area, near the Jordanian border, is home to families who say they had no connection to any armed factions. Survivors described the strike as sudden and devastating. “We were asleep when the missile hit us. My mother, my older brother and his three children — two boys and a girl — were killed,” said Nassouh al-Salim, whose family home was destroyed in the attack. The missile struck the living room of the modest residence, leaving a large crater and wreckage, with personal items such as schoolbooks and children's clothing scattered among the debris.

Relatives expressed deep grief and anger. Seventy-eight-year-old Yassine al-Salim, another family member, questioned the justification for targeting civilian homes. "They were in the flower of their youth, innocent, blameless," he said. Elsewhere, wounded children were being treated at a hospital in Daraa, where authorities reported receiving the bodies of three children aged between eight and ten years old, as well as their presumed grandmother. Two other children, aged four and five, were also wounded.

The Jordanian strikes came in retaliation for an attack last week on a Greek Orthodox church in Jordan’s Karak governorate, which killed nine people. Jordanian authorities announced the arrest of three Jordanians—two brothers and another relative—accused of involvement in the church attack shortly before the airstrikes were carried out.

IS once controlled vast territories in Syria and Iraq but was territorially defeated in Syria by 2019. Nonetheless, remnants of the group continue to operate intermittently within Syria’s deserts and have claimed responsibility for attacks primarily targeting government forces. Daraa province, a focal point during Syria’s civil war, remains one of the areas where IS-related activity persists.

In response to the airstrike, Syria condemned the operation, describing it as conducted "without any prior co-ordination" and as a violation of sovereignty. Damascus closed its main border crossing with Jordan, halting all passenger and commercial traffic. The closure represents the most serious diplomatic rift between the two countries since the new Syrian government assumed power following the removal of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Historically, Jordan has conducted strikes in southern Syria aimed at disrupting arms and drug trafficking networks along the porous border. Both countries have recently pledged cooperation against drug smuggling under Syria’s new authorities, but the latest incident risks undermining these efforts and further destabilizing an already volatile region.