Israeli warplanes attack Syrian army positions in Golan Heights

Rasa - Israeli warplanes have once again launched an attack against Syria’s Golan Heights after mortar fire from the Arab country landed in an open area in the occupied Syrian territory.

News ID: 429110

Date: 22 April 2017 - 22:53

RNA - The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), citing unnamed military sources, said Israeli fighter jets had fired two missiles at a military position in the vicinity of Khan Arnabah town in the countryside of Quneitra, the capital city of southwestern Quneitra province, at about 18:45 p.m. local time on Friday, causing material damage.

The Israeli military also confirmed the aggression in a statement, saying the attack was conducted shortly after three mortar shells allegedly fired from Syria hit an open area in the northern occupied Golan Heights.

The statement, however, added that the projectiles had caused no injuries or damage, and they were likely not intentional, but a spillover from the Syrian war.

Meanwhile, Syria's state-run television, while confirming the Israeli airstrike, said that such desperate attempts would not dissuade the Syrian army from continuing to crush the terror groups that act as Israel's proxy in the region.

The border separating Syria and the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights has been tense since foreign-backed militancy gripped the Arab country in 2011, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of people so far.

Back in April 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially admitted for the first time that the regime's military had conducted strikes in Syrian territory.

During the past few years, Israel has frequently attacked military targets in Syria in what is considered as an attempt to prop up terrorist groups that have been suffering heavy defeats at the hands of the Syrian military.

Damascus says Israel and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups operating inside the Arab country, while the regime's military carries out such sporadic strikes against Syrian government forces. The Israeli regime has even set up field hospitals to treat wounded militants evacuated from Syria.

Moreover, the Syrian army has repeatedly seized huge quantities of Israeli-made weapons and advanced military equipment from the foreign-backed militants inside Syria.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 Six-Day War and later occupied it in a move that has never been recognized by the international community. The regime has built dozens of illegal settlements in the area ever since and has used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government.

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