GOLAN HEIGHTS – 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, anti-aircraft 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 airstrike 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.
#Israel claims it has found a coloured children bag(?), visible a mile away, with "explosives", left behind by 4 men who took no security measure to hide themselves and carried no weapons as shown on the IDF video.
Nice try.
Watch the video & see how a man collected a bag 1st. pic.twitter.com/TybsuNDRcp
— Elijah J. Magnier (@ejmalrai) August 4, 2020
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 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.”
SOURCE: Associated Press
EDITOR’S NOTE: Last night Israel’s IDF published a video of Sunday night’s alleged ‘thwarting of bombing attack’ in Syria’s Golan Heights. Israeli officials claim that “evidence” in the form of a child’s bag containing explosives was later found at the scene by Israel reconnaissance, supposedly to be used against the IDF. Watch:
READ MORE SYRIA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Syria Files
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