Israeli bombs targets in Syria amid tensions
JERUSALEM — Israeli fighter jets and attack helicopters struck military targets in southern Syria belonging to the Syrian army Monday night, hours after thwarting an infiltration attempt from Syria by suspected militants trying to plant explosives, the Israeli military said.
In a rare statement acknowledging strikes in neighboring Syria, the army said the targets included “observation posts and intelligence collection systems, antiaircraft artillery facilities and command and control systems” in Syrian army bases.
Syria acknowledged the strikes, saying that Israeli helicopters fired missiles at Syrian army outposts and reported unspecified “material damage.”
The incident comes amid heightened tension on Israel’s northern frontier following a recent Israeli air strike that killed a Hezbollah fighter in Syria and anticipation that the militant Lebanese group would retaliate.
Earlier Monday, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said Israeli troops spotted “irregular” activity in the Golan Heights. Israeli troops opened fire on the suspected militants, some of whom were armed, after observing them placing the explosives on the ground, Conricus said.
There was no official confirmation that the four suspected attackers were killed but a grainy video released by the army shows four figures walking away from barbed wire marking the frontier. The four then disappear in a large explosion that engulfs the area.
The Israeli military has not said if the four are suspected of ties to Iran or Hezbollah, two Syrian allies. However, Conricus said Israel held the Syrian government responsible for the incident.
Addressing Likud party lawmakers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel “thwarted an attempted sabotage on the Syrian front” and would continue to “harm all those who try to harm us and all those who harm us.”
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and later annexed the territory. The U.S. is the only country to have recognized Israel’s annexation.