Israel strikes Syrian tanks, post in occupied Golan Heights

This photo taken from the Golan Heights on September 10, 2016, shows smoke rising from the Syrian village of Jubata al-Khashab shortly after Israeli aircraft struck Syrian army positions in the area. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli fighter jets have carried out a series of airstrikes against a number of Syrian army targets near the Golan Heights after several mortar shells exploded in an open area in the occupied territory.

The Israeli army announced in a statement on Saturday that some 10 rounds of mortar, presumably errant fire from Syrian factions fighting each other, had hit around Syria’s strategic southwestern region of Quneitra near the border with Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

The Israeli army said its airstrikes struck two tanks and a post from which the mortars were allegedly fired.

Following the attack, the Syrian army announced that several civilians were killed and several more injured in the bombing raid, which hit a residential building.

On April 21, Israeli warplanes launched an attack against Syria’s Golan Heights after mortar fire from the Arab country landed in an open area in the occupied territory.

The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), citing unnamed military sources, said Israeli fighter jets had fired two missiles at a military position in the vicinity of Khan Arnabah town in the countryside of Quneitra, causing material damage.

During the past few years, Israel has frequently attacked military targets in Syria in what is considered an attempt to prop up terrorist groups that have been suffering heavy defeats against Syrian government forces.

Back in April 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially admitted for the first time that the regime's military had conducted strikes in Syrian territory.   

Damascus says Israel and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups operating inside the Arab country, while the Tel Aviv regime's military carries out such sporadic strikes against Syrian government forces. The Israeli regime has even set up field hospitals to treat wounded militants evacuated from Syria.

Moreover, the Syrian army has repeatedly seized huge quantities of Israeli-made weapons and advanced military equipment from the foreign-backed militants inside Syria.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 Six-Day War and later occupied it in a move that has never been recognized by the international community. The regime has built dozens of settlements in the area ever since and has used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government.