The Israeli Air Force struck Syrian army positions near the border overnight Monday after a mortar shell hit the Israeli side of the Golan Heights hours earlier, Haaretz reported. Israel denied a claim by the Syrian army that it shot down two Israeli aircraft with surface-to-air missiles during the retaliatory raid.
Monday’s mortar attack from Syria was the fifth such incident in just over a week. While an IDF spokeswoman indicated on Saturday that the mortar fire was likely “spillover” from the fighting in Syria’s civil war, the Israeli military has said that it views the regime of Bashar al-Assad responsible for all projectiles launched against Israel from Syria.
Context on Israeli attack policy in Syrian Golan: 2/5 Syrian artillery shells fired into Israel this week hit very close to civilian towns.
— Daniel Nisman (@DannyNis) September 13, 2016
In denying the Syrian military’s claim that it shot down an Israeli jet and drone, an IDF spokesman explained that “the IAF jets were far from the source of the fire and didn’t pose any danger to our forces.”
The IDF believes that the latest shell may have been fired during ongoing fighting between rebel groups, despite the recently announced Syrian ceasefire agreement. None of the shells that landed in Israel have caused reported damage or injuries.
Residents of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo said on Monday that the Assad regime violated the ceasefire within an hour of its going into force.
[Photo: Israel Defense Forces / Flickr ]