Golan Heights Hit by Mortars From Syria Civil War
Two projectiles hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, causing no casualties, Israeli military sources said, describing the incident as apparent errant fire from Syria’s civil war.
Mortar bombs fired in battles between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and rebels trying to topple him in four years of fighting, have occasionally landed on the Golan, captured by Israel from Syria in a 1967 war.
Sirens sounded on the heights and Israeli television showed plumes of smoke rising from a field near an Israeli collective farm, about two kilometers (1 mile) from the Syrian frontier.
“It was probably errant fire,” one military source said. Another military source called it “spillover.”
Tuesday’s incident came two days after an Israeli air strike killed four militants who the Israeli military said were planting an explosive on a fence near the Syrian frontier.
Israel is concerned about the role of Islamist militants seeking to overthrow Assad, and the support he is receiving from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, which is building up its presence on the strategic heights.
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