The Israeli military claimed on Tuesday that it replied with artillery fire from the Golan Heights after missiles were launched toward territory it has held since 1967.
“Soldiers are responding with artillery and mortar shells toward the origin of the launching in Syria”, said an Israeli military statement on the fourth day of a confrontation with Gaza-based Hamas militants that has heightened regional tensions soaring.
According to the military, a number of launches from Syria into Israeli territory occurred.
It seemed to be mortar fire, according to a military spokesman.
This was Israel’s first exchange of fire with Syria since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory from the blockaded Gaza Strip on Saturday.
Fears of a new front emerging in the conflict have intensified following days of skirmishes with militants on Lebanon’s northern border.
The shells were shot by Palestinian factions working with the Lebanese Hezbollah, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based NGO with an extensive network of sources in Syria.
During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria. The United Nations did not recognize its takeover of the crucial territory in 1981.
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