The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Monday the arrest of members of a suspected Iran-backed cell operating in southern Syria on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to a statement reported by the Times of Israel, the operatives were detained in an overnight operation near the Israeli border.

The IDF said reservists from the Alexandroni Brigade, supported by interrogators from Military Intelligence’s Unit 504, carried out the raid in the Kwdana area, capturing "several members of the cell who were operating on behalf of the IRGC." This marks the second such operation in a week, following a similar raid on Wednesday that resulted in the arrest of IRGC-linked operatives.

The military stated that the cell had direct ties to Iran’s Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign operations arm, and posed a security threat to the region.

Syria has not officially commented on the arrests, but the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israeli forces raided a village in Quneitra province early Monday, searching homes and detaining two brothers.

The latest operations follow heightened Israeli military activity in southern Syria since the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December. Israel has conducted repeated airstrikes and cross-border raids targeting Iranian-linked military assets, while bolstering its presence along the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights.

On June 12, Syria accused Israeli troops of killing a civilian and detaining seven people in another incursion, which the IDF said targeted Hamas operatives.