© AP Photo/ Ariel SchalitIsraeli soldier guards an Iron Dome system
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman cautioned the country's northern neighbors against testing the Jewish State's patience following numerous cases of spillover fire from Syria.
On Saturday, two stray mortars landed near a security fence in Israel's Golan Heights in the latest of a series of such incidents in just one week. The projectiles are believed to be from fighting between the Bashar Assad regime and rebel groups near the city of Quneitra. They caused no injuries or damage to property.
The IDF responded with a retaliatory raid targeting a Syrian military post near the Naba Fawar base.
The Israeli defense minister said on Sunday that while Israel maintains a policy of staying out of the raging Syrian Civil War, breaches of the country's territorial sovereignty won't be tolerated.
"We have no intention of entering any conflict, but I advise our neighbors not to test us," Lieberman told military journalists during a briefing at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, as cited by the Jerusalem Post.
"We will not tolerate any spillover into our territory."
He added that Syria and Lebanon already know that it is not a good idea to test Israel's military strength, implying the retaliatory strikes.
Additionally, Lieberman pointed out that Israel is ready to support a peace process in Syria — unless it involves Iran, Hezbollah or Assad.
"Keeping Assad in power is not in our security interests," he told reporters.
Though Israel says it wants to stay out Syria's seven-year-old civil war, Lieberman said there are red lines Jerusalem has set, including the smuggling of sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah and an Iranian presence on its borders.
Comment: Update: Syrian Army seizes Israeli equipment supplied to Al-Qaeda in the Golan Heights
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) foiled another major assault by the Al-Qaeda linked rebels in the Golan Heights this past weekend, seizing a large cache of equipment supplied by Israel in the process.
According to the Golani Regiment of the National Defense Forces (NDF), the Syrian Arab Army seized Israeli supplied medical kits and weapons that belonged to the Al-Qaeda linked "Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham" militant group near the town of Hamadiyah on Sunday.
© Leith Fadel | AMNIsraeli medical kit seized in the Golan Heights
The Israeli military has been aiding the jihadist rebels in the Golan Heights with their constant airstrikes on the Syrian Arab Army's positions near the city of Al-Ba'ath.
As a result of these Israeli airstrikes, the jihadist rebels have used these airborne attacks to storm the Syrian Army's defenses and breach their front-lines at Al-Ba'ath City.
Israeli Army Ready to Enter Southern Syria with ISIL Assistance
The Arabic-language al-Ghad paper quoted Abu Yaqoub, the political advisor of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), as saying that the Israeli army is planning to stormed Hawz Yarmouk region that is under the control of the ISIL-affiliated terrorist group of Khalid Bin Walid Jeish to occupy the region on the pretext of war on terrorism.
Yaqoub told al-Ghad that the footprint of the Israeli intelligence Mossad can be seen in the sudden rapid ideological change of the leadership of Khalid Bin Walid Jeish that was previously affiliated to the FSA and later joined the ISIL, adding that similar to Turkey that entered Northern Syria the Israeli army will enter Hawz Yarmouk.
Mohammad Seif, a field commander of the FSA, pointed to the possibility of Israeli army plan to enter Hawz Yarmouk, and said, "Israel intends to create a buffer zone in Hawz Yarmouk region."
He further added that the Israeli media have recently paid more attention to the presence of Khalid Bin Walid Jeish near the border.
Relevant reports said on Saturday that the Israeli Air Force struck the Syrian Army troops' strongholds in the Southern province of Quneitra for the fourth time in a row.
An Israeli military helicopter targeted two positions of the Syrian Army in areas near the town of Eastern al-Samadaniyeh and another position around the town of al-Ba'ath.
No accurate information has been released on the possible damage to the Syrian army.
In the meantime, the Arabic-language Elam al-Harbi news reported that the terrorists of Al-Nusra Front (also known as Fatah al-Sham Front or the Levant Liberation Board) have intentionally increased their mortar attacks on occupied lands in the Golan Heights to give another pretext to the Israeli forces to target the Syrian Army's strongholds in Quneitra.
Comment: Update: Syrian Army seizes Israeli equipment supplied to Al-Qaeda in the Golan Heights Israeli Army Ready to Enter Southern Syria with ISIL Assistance