Mortar shell falls in Golan Heights, IDF retaliates
IDF spots mortar shell fired from Syria into an open field in the Golan Heights, reporting it as spillover from internal Syrian conflict; IDF fires back, destroying a Syrian army mortar.
The IDF responded by stating that the mortar shell was a stray missile from the internal fighting in Syria and that there were no casualties and no damage as a result.
"We are in full control of the situation, and we know what is happening across the border," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a speech in the Golan Heights, half an hour before the mortar shell fell. "Our line is clear—we do not interfere in what is happening in Syria, but we are determined to respond firmly and forcefully to any violation of our sovereignty.
"We are not willing to accept no 'spillover' (of fire from the Syrian conflict) on the Golan or anywhere else."
Less than half an hour later, the IDF attacked the mortar belonging to the Syrian regime from which the shell was fired.
According to a report in the Lebanese network Al-Miyadin, the outpost attacked by the IDF resided in on the outskirts of Quneitra and was either allied or under the Al-Nusra Front terrorist organization.
In response to the fall of the mortar shell in the Golan Heights and the IDF's response in Syria, Netanyahu said while on his visit to the Golan Heights: "I said here that we will not tolerate 'spillover' and that we will respond to every shooting. During my speech here, a mortar shell was fired on our territory from the Syria and the IDF has already attacked.
"Whoever attacks us—we attack him back. This is our policy and we are sticking to it."
The mortar shell fell near the border fence, when only last night the restriction of the area as a closed military zone was canceled due to relative quiet.Since the beginning of the week, dozens of mortar shells have fallen across the Israel-Syria border as a result of the battles between the rebels and Assad's army, most of them falling near the border fence between Quneitra and the Galon's Valley of Tears. The IDF retaliated several times, destroying the mortars and tanks responsible.
