Although no injuries were reported in Israel from mortar explosion that was assumed to be spillover from Syrian turmoil, the IDF holds Syria responsible and “will continue to act in order to preserve Israeli sovereignty and safeguard Israel.”

By i24news

The Israeli air force on Tuesday carried out a strike in Southern Syria in response to a stray mortar that landed in the Israeli Golan Heights earlier in the day.

UN base outside of Quneitra, on the Syrian part of the Golan Heights – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

A statement from the Israel Defense Forces said that “the IAF has successfully targeted the source of the fire in Syria. The Syrian government is responsible for all fire from Syria and the IDF will continue to act in order to preserve Israeli sovereignty and safeguard Israel.”No injuries were reported in Israel from the mortar that was attributed to spillover from fighting in the Syrian civil war.

Earlier this month the IDF said that it attacked two Syrian army targets in retaliation for stray gunshots fired at the security fence on the northern border.

Since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, the Golan Heights have been tense, with a growing number of mostly stray rockets and mortar rounds hitting the Israeli side, prompting the occasional armed response.

In addition to retaliatory strikes, Israel acknowledged for the first time earlier this year that it has also carried out strikes against suspected arms transfers to Lebanon’s Hezbollah guerrillas.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometers of the heights in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.

View original i24news publication at:
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/121004-160725-israel-strikes-target-in-syria-in-response-to-stray-mortar-fire