Israel Attacks Syria After Rockets Hit Occupied Golan (Videos, Photos)

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Early on December 30, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it had carried out strikes against Syria after two projectiles fired from the country fell in the occupied Golan Heights.

“Following the report regarding sirens sounding in northern Israel, a short while ago two launches that were identified crossing from Syria fell in an open area,” the IDF said in a statement, adding that it was striking the sources of fire.

The IDF later confirmed to AFP that the projectiles fired from Syria were rockets, but did not say the precise location where they fell.

Videos posted to social media showed an impact near an undefined settlement in the Golan Heights. No casualties were reported however.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based monitoring group, said that Israeli retaliatory strikes targeted the outskirts of the town of Hader in the southern Syrian governorate of al-Qunitra and a military post at the nearby hilltop of Qurs al-Nafl.

Israel escalated its attacks on Syria significantly since the outbreak of the war with the Hamas Movement and other Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip. Rocket attacks from southern Syria against the Golan Heights also became a regular occurrence.

In an attempt to de-escalate tensions between Syria and Israel, the Russian military established recently a series of observation posts in al-Quneitra along the Golan front.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against Syria over the past decade, often targeting Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed forces, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. The war-torn country has largely refrained from responding to Israel’s repeated attacks in an attempt to avoid a dangerous confrontation.

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