Israel strikes Syria military posts in response to errant rocket

Israel shot artillery into Syria on Sunday after a rocket mistakenly landed inside its border in the Golan Heights, according to a military statement.

On Saturday, a similar incident occurred, with a rocket slamming into the Israeli-held part of the plateau also without causing injuries or damage.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli fire targeted army positions in a town in southwest Quneitra province, on the Golan.

But the military has returned fire when rockets or mortar shells have strayed into Israeli-controlled territory.

On Sunday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that a rocket landed in an open field in the northern Golan Heights.

Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Russian Federation have launched a “joint operations room” to coordinate their campaign to defeat the extremist Islamic State group, which has captured swathes of Syrian territory during the country’s four-year civil war, as well as the opposition groups, some linked to al-Qaeda, seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The two rounds, the Israeli army said, were likely errant fire from the fighting between regime and rebel forces close to the border.

They were fired from inside the occupied Golan Heights, he said, but did not have details on any casualties.

“Israel will not tolerate violation of its sovereignty”, said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman with the IDF. “Syrian military is responsible & accountable for any aggression emanating from Syria”.

Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, Israel has occasionally fired across the Golan Heights in response to spillover shelling or bombed advanced arms it suspected were to be transferred to Assad’s Lebanese guerrilla allies, Hezbollah.