golan heights
© 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.