IDF thwarts terror attack on Syrian border

The Israeli military thwarted an attempt by terrorists from Syria to plant explosives on the Golan Heights. 

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

The IDF killed four terrorists attempting to place an explosive device on Israel’s border with Syria Sunday night.

An IDF observation post identified four suspicious figures approaching the northern border. An Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft was alerted to the scene, and it fired on the group. The incident lasted minutes from the moment of detection to the elimination of the terror cell.

No organization claimed responsibility for the attack to date. However, the cell members are estimated to be Hezbollah terrorists, possibly in retaliation for Israel’s reported attacks on their weapons depots in Syria in recent days.

IDF spokesman Col. Peter Lerner said that the cell consisted of four people who were “identified while clearly laying a mine and were shot by an Israeli Air Force aircraft.”

In another statement, a spokesman said that “the IDF eliminated a terror cell as it was operating to place an explosive device against IDF’s forces on the Israel-Syrian border. The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to impinge on Israel’s sovereignty.”

Responding to the incident, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “any attempt to harm our soldiers or citizens will be met with a decisive action like the one we have seen tonight. I laud the soldiers’ alertness, which brought to a swift and accurate operation.”

So far, no special directives have been issued for Israel’s citizens in the north, and all are instructed to carry on with their regular routines.

The most recent incident on the Syrian border before Sunday night occurred in late January when Hezbollah launched missiles at two IDF vehicles on the Lebanese border. Two soldiers were killed and seven wounded in that attack.