Channels

Photo: EPA
Rebels, Assad battle over Quneitra
Photo: EPA

Stray mortar from Syrian civil war hits northern Golan

Syrian sources report rebels retake village near Quneitra Crossing near border with Israel, prompting heavy artillery fire by Assad's forces, after recent weeks see rise in number cross border spill over from Syria.

A siren heard Friday night in the northern Golan was likely the result of a stray mortar from Syrian civil war, the IDF said Friday night.

 

 

Massive battles between rebels from the al-Qaeda-linked Al Nusra Front and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have been raging in recent weeks, just meters from Israel's Golan border with Syria, leading to an occasional stray bullet or mortar.

 

Rebels, Assad battle over Quneitra (Photo: EPA) (Photo: EPA)
Rebels, Assad battle over Quneitra (Photo: EPA)

 

Opposition sources in Syria report that rebels have taken over the village of Al Hamidya not far from Quneitra. Earlier reports said that rebels also captured the village of Raqadi, also in the Golan region.

 

Meanwhile, heavy artillery fire by regime forces was reported in the areas surrounding the villages, both of which are very close to the border with Israel, a possible explanation for Friday's mortar.

 

Related stories:

 

On Monday afternoon an IDF soldier was very lightly wounded in the Golan Heights by gun fire from Syria. According to the IDF the bullet hit his leg, and it was unclear if the bullet was a result of errant fire or an intentional attack.

 

Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines of the war, quietly content to see Assad's forces tied down by battles with various rebel groups trying to oust him. However, Israel has occasionally responded to mortar fire that spilled over the border, usually unintentionally, and is believed to have carried out several airstrikes on weapons shipments thought to be bound for Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

 

IDF forces view fighting from afar (Photo: EPA) (Photo: EPA)
IDF forces view fighting from afar (Photo: EPA)

 

As the rebels took over the border area Wednesday two weeks ago, the IDF ordered farmers out of the fields in the area for three days, forcing them to leave behind freshly picked fruit in vats to rot.

 

Then, mortar shells fell near the village of Merom Golan, setting large swaths of vineyards ablaze and imparting a smoky taste to what remained.

 

Last Thursday the IDF fired a Spike (Tamuz) missile at a Syrian army position on in response to a stray projectile fired from the neighboring country that hit the Israeli Golan Heights earlier in the day. A direct hit was confirmed.

 

A rocket siren was sounded Thursday afternoon in the northern Golan Heights after a projectile from fighting in the Syrian civil war fell in the Golan Regional Council, north of the community Ortal.

 

Such fighting, now in its fourth year, has often spilled over into Israeli parts of the Golan Heights, territory Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day war.

 

Syrian opposition sources said Thursday that the fighting is focused in the southern outskirts of Quneitra after fighting in the city itself and the rebels' take over of the border crossing.

 

On the Sunday beforehand, an Israeli Patriot missile shot down what the IDF described as a Syrian drone over the strategic plateau.

 

Three days prior, heavy fire exchange was reported in the Quneitra area between forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and rebels fighting to overthrow him.

 

Islamist fighters last week overran a UN-controlled crossing point on the "disengagement line" that has separated Israelis from Syrians on the Golan Heights since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

 

The fighters then turned against UN blue helmets from a peacekeeping force that has patrolled the zone since 1974, capturing some 45 Fijians peacekeepers who were freed only yesterday.

 

On Saturday the week before five rockets were fired from Syria at the Golan Heights, three of them landed near a community. There were no injuries, but damage was caused to a power line which led to short-term power cuts.

 

A day before, at least one rocket was fired from south Lebanon and hit an empty house at a community in the western Galilee. As a result, 20 people arrived at the hospital in Nahariya suffering from anxiety and three were lightly injured including an eight-year-old girl who had a massive laceration on her head after roof tiles fell on her head.

 

Roi Kais, Hassan Shaalan, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.12.14, 23:12
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment