IAF bombs Syrian target for 5th time in a week

Despite the ceasefire that went into effect on Monday in Syria, the fighting has continued along Israel’s border and Israel has vowed to respond to any fire that lands on the Israeli side of the border.

Israel’s Air Force (IAF) carried out another airstrike against a Syrian military position in the Golan Heights on Tuesday night in response to three mortar rounds fired from Syria into Israel earlier in the day.

The mortar rounds exploded in an open space, causing no casualties or damage. A driving route was shut down near the border after the incident.

The IDF said the target it attacked was an Assad army artillery position.

The Syrian army did not respond to the attack, while it did fire SAM missiles at the Israeli aircraft a day before.

“The IDF views the Syrian regime as responsible for all events occurring in its territory, and will not tolerate any harming of Israel’s sovereignty and the security of its citizens,” an IDF spokesman stated, adding for the first time that Israel “would not hesitate to act” against other forces fighting in the region.

In the past weeks there have been a growing number of incidents of fire spilling over from the Syrian civil war into Israeli territory. This was the fifth such incident in the past week.

Opposing factions in Syria’s civil war have been battling heavily in the Kuneitra area adjacent to Israel’s northern border, and Hezbollah and Iranian forces have reportedly joined in the foray.

Despite the ceasefire that went into effect on Monday in Syria, the fighting has continued along Israel’s border.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which tracks the fighting in Syria, reported on Tuesday that two shells fell on an area on the outskirts of Khan Arnabah, a town which is under the control of the Assad regime forces, resulting in material damage. This was followed by heavy machine gun fire by the regime forces on areas in the northern sector countryside of Kuneitra, amid sporadic clashes between the fighters of the rebel and Islamic factions and the Fath al-Sham Front against the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them in the vicinity of region.

Also on Tuesday, 23 rebels were killed during clashes with Assad regime forces in Kuneitra. A number of regime soldiers were also killed in the clashes, the SOHR reported.

While Israel has refrained from intervening in the Syrian conflict, the IDF has responded to stray fire from Syria with artillery shelling or an air strike against Syrian army or rebel positions, in most cases targeting the source of fire.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

Golan HeightsIAFStray fireSyriaSyrian Civil War