Thousands joined rallies Friday in different areas across Syria to protest the Israeli ground aggression in Daraa province which left at least nine people dead.
Activists in southern Suwayda city, where the majority of the population is from the Druze religious community, held a vigil in solidarity with their people in Daraa province, condemning Israeli aggression on the province a few days ago, according to a statement by the Suwayda governor's office.
"Syrian blood is one, and the defense of the country is a must on every free Syrian," read one of the banners during the vigil.
The activists also slammed the international silence on the Israeli aggression against Syria, the statement added.
In the Damascus countryside in southern Syria, at least two rallies were organized in Muadamiyat al-Sham and Qatana to protest the external interventions in the country's domestic affairs as well as the Israeli assaults on the country, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported.
Another rally was held in the town of Masyaf in Hama province in central Syria, "in solidarity with the people of Daraa and their martyrs killed by the Israeli attacks on Syria," according to SANA.
In the coastal city of Tartus, hundreds gathered to affirm Syrian unity and condemn Israeli aggression on Syrian territory.
Meanwhile, Syrians in the Daraa province, during a similar rally, performed prayer-in-absentia for the victims of the Israeli aggression.
Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes targeting several sites in the Syrian capital Damascus and the western provinces of Hama and Homs on Wednesday.
The Israeli army also launched a ground offensive in Daraa in southern Syria, where at least nine people were killed, according to local authorities.
After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated a 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.
Israel also took advantage of the regime's fall to launch hundreds of strikes that targeted military sites and assets across Syria, including fighter jets, missile systems, and air defense installations, according to reports.
