by Lilach Shoval, Shlomo Cesana, News Agencies, and Israel Hayom Staff
Military on high alert after intercepting terrorists trying to place explosives on Israel-Syria border • PM: Any attempt to harm soldiers or civilians will meet a determined response • Nusra Front reportedly strikes Syrian targets north of Damascus.
Israeli troops on the
Israel-Syria border, Sunday night
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Photo credit: Eyal Margolin / JINI  |
Arab media outlets reported Monday that
Hezbollah and Syrian Army sites in the Qalamoun Mountains, north of
Damascus, were attacked overnight. While initial reports attributed the
strike to Israel, it is believed the attack was the work of the Nusra
Front, a Syria-based offshoot of al-Qaida, which is fighting the Syrian
regime alongside other rebel groups.
An unnamed Israeli defense official was quoted
by Channel 10 News Monday as saying this was an internal Syrian matter
and part of the civil war raging in the country. He stressed that Israel
was not involved in the strike.
A terse statement by the Israeli military said, "The IDF does not comment on such reports."
Quoting the Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya news
networks, Army Radio said it is believed the strike targeted a convoy
carrying missile launchers the Syrian regime had sought to deliver to
Hezbollah, or possibly the Syrian Army's local 155th Brigade base.
Arab media said several people were killed and
wounded in the attack, but none of the reports gave an exact number of
casualties, the Walla news website said.
It is believed the strike was initially
attributed to Israel because of its timing, mere hours after Israeli
forces thwarted a terrorist attack on the northern border.
According to available information, at 9:30
p.m. on Sunday, IDF surveillance on the Israel-Syria border in the Golan
Heights, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, spotted a four-man
terrorist cell trying to place explosives on the Israeli side of the
border.
The suspects were reportedly observed for
several minutes to ascertain the nature of their actions. Once
confirmed, an Israeli Air Force plane was immediately sent to the area
and struck the cell, neutralizing the threat.
The IDF believes all four terrorists were
killed in the strike. A senior military source said continued
surveillance of the area indicated that no one had fled the scene.
In March 2014, four Israeli soldiers were
wounded in the same area when their patrol vehicle hit a roadside bomb
placed near the border. At the time, the IDF responded with artillery
fire at Syrian military posts near the border.
Army Radio reported Monday that given recent
events on the northern border, Israeli forces in the sector have been
placed on high alert.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended
the military's swift action Sunday, saying, "Any attempt to harm
soldiers or civilians will meet a determined response, like the IDF's
actions tonight, which foiled a terrorist attack. I commend the soldiers
for their vigilance, which resulted is a swift, accurate response."
An IDF Spokesperson's Unit statement said, "The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to infringe on Israeli sovereignty."
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Sunday
that Israel would not allow weapons shipments to Syria and Lebanon-based
terrorist groups, especially Hezbollah.
"Iran continues in its efforts to arm
Hezbollah. We will not allow quality weapons to be delivered to
terrorist groups, and we will reach [these] weapons and those sending
them wherever they may be. We will not allow Iran and Hezbollah to
establish terrorist infrastructure on our border with Syria, and we will
know how to get our hands on anyone threatening the Israeli public," he
said.
Over the weekend, Arab media reported that the
IAF had struck Syria twice within 48 hours, between last Wednesday and
Friday nights. Both strikes reportedly targeted the area of the Qalamoun
Mountains.
Israel has remained silent on the issue.
Lilach Shoval, Shlomo Cesana, News Agencies, and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=25071
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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