Israel fires warning shots ‘after Syria mortar strike’

Israeli forces say they have fired warning shots into Syria after a mortar round fired from Syria hit an Israeli post in the Golan Heights.

Earlier, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned Israel was “ready for any development” on the border with Syria, AFP news agency reported.

The latest incident comes days after an Israeli vehicle was hit by Syrian fire in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The two countries are formally at war and a UN force patrols the buffer zone.

The Israel Defence Forces have filed a complaint through the UN forces operating in the area, stating that fire emanating from Syria into Israel will not be tolerated and “shall be responded to with severity”.

‘Warning shots’

In a statement posted on its website on Saturday, the IDF said the “mortar shell hit an IDF post in the Golan Heights adjacent to the Israel-Syria border, as part of the internal conflict inside Syria”.

No damage or injuries were reported, but in response, “IDF soldiers fired warning shots towards Syrian areas”.

Last week the Israeli army said three Syrian tanks had entered the demilitarised buffer zone in the area to tackle rebel fighters.

Israel complained to the UN peacekeeping force and military chief of staff Benny Gantz visited the Golan, warning troops to be on high alert and to prevent the conflict in Syria from crossing the border.

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition groups meeting in Qatar have agreed to form a new coalition to oppose President Bashar al-Assad’s government, reports said.

The fractious opposition has been under pressure from the US and other backers in the region to clinch a deal and has been meeting in Qatar for the past week.

The Golan Heights, a rocky plateau in south-western Syria, has a political and strategic significance which belies its size.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 Six-Day War and thwarted a Syrian attempt to retake the area in 1973.

Both countries signed an armistice in 1974 and a UN observer force has been in place on the ceasefire line since 1974.

Israel’s unilateral annexing of the Golan Heights in 1981 was not recognised internationally.

BBC