Israel fires missile into Syriaاسرائيل تضرب سوريا بصاروخ تحذيري
بعد سقوط قذائف المورتر للمرة الرابعة في الجولان خلال أسبوع إسرائيل ترد بصاروخ تحذيري
Israel fires missile into Syria
Military says it has fired warning shot after
stray mortar hit one of its posts in the Golan Heights
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Associated Press in Jerusalem
Israeli
troops and UN peacekeepers inspect an area where mortar shells fired from Syria
landed in the Golan Heights. Photograph: Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images
The Israeli military has fired a missile into Syria, the first time Israel has been drawn into the fighting in the neighbouring country.
The military said it had fired the missile as
a warning shot on Sunday after a stray mortar round from Syria hit a military
post in the Golan Heights. Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967
Middle East war and subsequently annexed it.
The military says no damage or injuries were
reported inside Israel.
A string of mortar shells have struck the
Golan Heights during the Syrian civil war. Israel views the fire as accidental,
but nonetheless has warned that it holds Syria responsible.
"A short while ago, a mortar shell
targeted an IDF [Israel Defence Forces] post in the Golan Heights," said
army spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Avital Leibovich. "We answered with a
warning shot towards Syrian areas. We understand this was a mistake and was not
meant to target Israel and then that is why we fired a warning shot in
retaliation."
The Israeli military also said it had filed a
complaint through United Nations forces operating in the area, stating that
"fire emanating from Syria into Israel will not be tolerated and shall be
responded to with severity".
Israel and Syria are bitter foes who have
fought several wars, but their shared border has been mostly quiet since a 1974
ceasefire. Still, Israel worries that Syria's civil war could spill across into
the Golan Heights, and repeated errant fire has intensified that concern.
Israel fears that if the regime of the Syrian
president, Bashar al-Assad, is toppled, the country could fall into the hands
of Islamist extremists or descend into sectarian warfare, destabilising the
region.
Israeli officials do not see Assad trying to
intentionally draw Israel into the fighting, but have raised the possibility of
his targeting Israel in an act of desperation. They also fear that Syria's
stockpile of chemical weapons or other weapons could slip into the hands of
Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group, a close Syrian ally, or reach other
militants if Assad loses power.
Israeli officials also worry that the frontier
region could turn into a lawless area like Egypt's Sinai desert, which Islamist
militants now use as a launching ground for strikes against southern Israel.
Speaking to his cabinet on Sunday, the Israeli
prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said Israel was "closely
monitoring" the border with Syria and was "ready for any
development".
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