Syrian Rockets Slam Into Israel, IDF Retaliates

Two rockets fired from Syria hit Israel on Tuesday. It appears too soon to know for certain whether this indicates a serious escalation.

Two rockets fired from Syria slammed into northern Israel on Tuesday, setting off alarms in the area. There were no injuries or damage.

A Code Red siren was sounded.

The IDF responded immediately by firing approximately 20 artillery shells at a Syrian military position, reporting accurate hits. Israeli warplanes were reported to be circling the region.

The border was immediately cleared. Farmers were ordered out of their fields by the IDF, and the Hermon skiing resort, which is situated on the border with Syria, was evacuated. Some roads in the north were shut down.

The incident could be yet another spillover from the Syrian civil war into Israel, and no organization has claimed responsibility for the attack.

However, the region is very tense, and Israel has been on high alert in the wake of the reported attack by the Israel Air Force (IAF) on a convoy carrying Hezbollah terrorists and Iranian military officials last Sunday. Hezbollah, Iran and Syria have all vowed to retaliate.

The most recent serious incident on the Syrian border occurred in late September when an IAF Patriot battery shot down a Syrian Sukhoi-24 fighter jet after it had entered Israeli airspace over the Golan Heights. The plane wreckage landed in the Quneitra area, beyond the border fence.

At the end of August, a Syrian military drone entered Israeli air space and was shot down by a Patriot battery.

In another incident at the end of August, an IDF soldier was wounded by Syrian fire.

In some cases, the IDF responded with artillery fire and even airstrikes on Syrian military targets.

By: Atara Beck, World Israel News