ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Local government officials in Syria’s southern Daraa province reported that nine people were killed by Israeli shelling near the city of Hawa on Thursday.

In a statement made on Telegram, the local authorities announced that the bombing came after an incursion by Israeli ground forces into Syria, with “the occupation forces advancing for the first time to this depth.”

The Israeli military confirmed Thursday that they had undertaken a ground operation into southern Syria, with a spokesperson asserting that Israel will "not allow the existence of a military threat in Syria and will act against it."

It was further specified that the operation in question took place in the Tasil area, near Nawa, and that “several gunmen” had fired on Israeli forces.

The spokesperson added that there were no Israeli casualties.

The UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) claimed that the individuals killed had taken up arms to repel the Israeli raid.

Since the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in early December, Israel has conducted numerous strikes and raids into the country, ostensibly with the aim of securing its borders and dismantling weapons caches.

On Wednesday the Israeli Air Force carried out airstrikes on military infrastructure in Damascus, Hama, and Homs.