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Israel's military announced on Sunday (Nov 3) that it has detained a Syrian national allegedly acting as an operative for Iranian intelligence, during an operation that reportedly took place earlier this year.

This is the first time in the current war that Israel has announced sending troops into Syria.

The military said that the man identified as Ali Soleiman al-Assi was a "Iranian terror network operative", and had been collecting information on Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) movements near the Israeli-Syrian border.

This, Israel claims, was tied to an Iranian network orchestrating operations within southern Syria.

Al-Assi's capture, Israel says, pre-empted potential attacks.

"The operation by Israel Defense Forces troops to detain al-Assi prevented a future attack and led to the exposure of the operational methods of Iranian terror networks located near the Golan Heights," said the Israeli military in a statement.

Al-Assi, reportedly from Saida in southern Syria, is now being held in Israel for interrogation.

Israeli authorities have shared few specific details regarding the exact timeline of al-Assi's detention, but said "His activities included gathering intelligence on IDF (Israeli military) troops in the border area for future terror activity of the network."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based watchdog, had reported in July about an incident in which Israeli forces seized a Syrian man near the village of Al-Razatiya, close to the Golan Heights.

The Observatory stated that the man, who worked as a driver, was reportedly taken by Israeli forces who crossed the border to detain him, then transported to Israel.

"An Israeli military force of three cars and an armoured vehicle crossed the border, entered the village and took the man to the occupied Golan Heights," the war monitor said.

Israel has recently been in an escalated, full-scale war with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

This comes after Hezbollah intensified its cross-border actions that it claims are in support of Hamas.

Hezbollah launched an extensive series of attacks from Lebanon into northern Israel last year, with activity increasing after Hamas's major assault on Israel on October 7, 2023.