JERUSALEM
The Israeli army on Wednesday fired an artillery barrage at two Syrian army posts after an Israeli army officer was moderately injured by mortar fire emanating from Syria earlier the same day.
Israeli army radio had reported earlier Wednesday that three mortar shells fired from Syria had fallen to earth in the Israeli-held Golan Heights.
"An IDF [Israeli army] officer was moderately injured as a result of errant fire from Syria. The officer was evacuated for medical treatment," the army announced on its official Twitter account.
An Israeli army spokeswoman, who asked not to be named, told Anadolu Agency that the three Syrian mortar shells had not targeted Israel but were the result of internal fighting in Syria.
"The Israeli army fired back with artillery towards two Syrian army posts," she confirmed.
The latest developments come three days after five rockets – also fired from Syria – landed in the Israeli-occupied territory.
Tension remains high in the region following a just-halted Israeli offensive against Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip.
Over the course of the 51-day onslaught that began on July 7, at least 2,145 Palestinians were killed – the vast majority of them civilians – and some 11,000 injured.
The Syrian Golan Heights were occupied by Israel during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
In 1981, the self-proclaimed Jewish state formally annexed the territory, which is inhabited by a small Syrian Druze community of roughly 20,000.
By Turgut Alp Boyraz
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en/world
