Rocket Attacks on Israel Underscore Continuing Threat from Syria

Anti-Israel terrorism may again have found a home in Syria.

Rockets struck Israel from Syrian territory on June 3 the first time since President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster. The projectiles hit the Golan Heights and prompted an immediate response from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who declared that Israel holds Syria’s interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa “directly responsible for every threat and firing towards the State of Israel.”

The strike comes as Syria’s new leadership tries to quietly assure Israel that it is seeking stability — not confrontation. Sharaa had previously pledged that his country would not become a launchpad for attacks. Behind closed doors, Syrian and Israeli officials have reportedly been exploring ways to prevent an escalation along their shared border. But that effort now appears in jeopardy. So far, Sharaa has failed to dismantle the rogue militant networks operating in southern Syria.

Syria’s Palestinian Dilemma

The June 3 attack was claimed by two separate groups: one calling itself the “Martyr Mohammed Deif Brigades,” named after the slain Hamas military chief, and the other an Iran-backed faction known as the Islamic Resistance in Syria-Awli al-Bas. Despite Hamas denying any links to the so-called “Mohammed Deif Brigades,” the issue of Palestinian fighters in Syria is concerning for not only Israel but also for the Syrian government itself. Hamas had a presence in Damascus from 1999 until 2012 and had multiple offshoots operate in Palestinian refugee camps in Syria during the civil war. When Assad fell, there were reports that Hamas’s leader in Syria was released from the infamous Sednaya prison by Sharaa’s men. The new Syrian leadership has acted against some Palestinian groups like Palestinian Islamic Jihad, arresting two of its leaders. However, they have not done enough to dismantle other militant structures, instead resorting to what Damascus calls a mechanism to “monitor the activities of Palestinian factions.” Yet the challenge demands more than monitoring since the Palestinian factions seek to spur clashes between Syria and Israel.

Sharaa’s Lack of Control Over Armed Groups

Sharaa, six months after taking power in Syria, is still struggling to assert complete control over all armed factions in Syria. There have been multiple violent episodes between government forces, Sunni tribesmen, and factions affiliated with Syria’s different communities. And, of course, taking control of all the weapons and armed groups in a country that suffered a 14-year civil war is not an easy task. In fact, the only groups disarmed so far are affiliated with Assad.

Sharaa does not even have control over groups inside his army. Factions affiliated with the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army — which the United States sanctioned for human rights abuses — led most of the reprisal attacks against Alawite civilians in March 2025, against directives from the Syrian Interior Ministry to avoid targeting civilians.

The U.S. Must Demand Quiet Cooperation Between Sharaa and Israel

President Donald Trump ended sanctions on Syria with the expectation that Sharaa would prevent the country from becoming a haven for terrorism. While Sharaa may not yet have full control over all armed actors, Washington should make clear that further cooperation on sanctions relief hinges on Sharaa quietly and fully cooperating with Israel to neutralize any Palestinian factions capable of launching attacks from Syrian soil, particularly near the Golan Heights.

Ahmad Sharawi is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he focuses on Middle East affairs, specifically the Levant, Iraq, and Iranian intervention in Arab affairs, as well as U.S. foreign policy toward the region. For more analysis from Ahmad and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Ahmad on X @AhmadA_Sharawi. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.