© AFP 2017/ JALAA MAR
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have targeted three Syrian artillery cannons following shelling allegedly carried out by The Syrian army, the IDF's press service said Saturday.
"Early this morning, 5 projectiles were launched at the N Golan Heights from Syria. In response, the IDF targeted 3 Syrian artillery cannons," the IDF said on Twitter.
It is second such incident in a week. On October 16,
the IDF stated that its military jets destroyed an anti-aircraft battery east of Damascus as a response to an alleged missile attack against an Israeli military aircraft. Syria has not confirmed the incident.
Israel and Syria have exchanged numerous tit-for-tat
attacks over the disputed
Golan Hights, which was seized by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967. The latest occurred in September 2017, when the IDF attacked Syrian Arab Army forces in the province of Hama. However, the Israeli Defense Forces refused to comment on that incident.
Recently, the IDF has prioritized attacks against the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, which has assisted Syrian President Assad in fighting Sunni religious extremists. Israel and the US have considered Hezbollah a terrorist group for decades, while Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Cooperation Council allies made this distinction
only last year, reflecting heated Sunni-Shiite rivalry in the region. Russia, China and Iran do not use this distinction.
Iranian troops are also involved in the fight to assist Syria, which has also incited the ire of neighboring Israel. The US political journal Foreign Policy
opined on September 28 that Iranian involvement was destined to draw Israel into the conflict.
Comment: The Syrians'
response shows just how cynical and mendacious these Israeli attacks really are:
The statement noted that the Israeli attack comes within the framework of coordination between Israel and the terrorist groups operating in the area, claiming that terrorists, while receiving instructions from Israel, fired mortar shells which landed in an empty land in the occupied Golan Heights, with the purpose of giving Israel an excuse to carry out its aggression against the Syrian Army.
The General Command then warned Israel of serious consequences, should such actions repeat.
You'd think the international community would band together to stop Israel's naked aggression,
but no:
Syria is apalled that the UN Security Council is unable to stop and condemn the Israeli attacks on its territory.
"Syria renews its warning of serious repercussions to Israel, should its acts of aggression, aimed at supporting terrorism, and which defy the UN Security Council resolutions, be repeated", the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in its letters addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the UN Security Council, adding that the latest Israeli aggression in the countryside of Quneitra is an example of coordination between Israel and armed terrorist groups and a desperate attempt of Israel to support these groups.
The Ministry also expressed Syria's grave disappointment over the fact that the UN is unable to deal with Israel.
Israel is a rogue state, a global menace, and one of the most evil regimes on the planet. Funny how it's pretty much only the "democratic West" that doesn't seem to realize it.
Comment: The Syrians' response shows just how cynical and mendacious these Israeli attacks really are: You'd think the international community would band together to stop Israel's naked aggression, but no: Israel is a rogue state, a global menace, and one of the most evil regimes on the planet. Funny how it's pretty much only the "democratic West" that doesn't seem to realize it.