BICOM

Two mortars fired from Syria landed on the Israeli Golan Heights yesterday, with fighting from the Syrian Civil War thought to have spilled across the Israel-Syria border.

The mortars landed in open areas of Israeli farmland, but one person is reported to have been treated for shock. No further injuries or damage were reported as Israeli forces searched the area for remnants of the shells. A military official told Channel Two that the mortar rounds are thought to have been errant fire from the four-year long Syrian Civil War.

Such incidents have occurred infrequently during the Syrian conflict, in which mortar and gunfire from fighting in Syria has landed on Israeli territory. More often than not the Israeli military has determined errant Syrian fire to be unintentional. However, two Israeli soldiers were wounded when mortar fire struck a military outpost in 2013 and the following year an Israeli teenage boy was killed and several others wounded when a bomb was detonated close to the border. On several occasions, fighting between Syrian government and opposition forces has reached Quneitra, just dozens of metres from Israeli military positions.

More recently, Israel’s leaders have expressed concern that the Druze population on the Syrian Golan Heights will become a target for ISIS affiliates, sparking a potential Druze exodus towards Israel’s border in search of safety. It was reported in June that at least 20 Syrian Druze were massacred by the al-Qaeda-affiliated opposition group, the al-Nusra Front. It prompted fears that the Syrian Druze are being increasingly targeted and are in particular at the mercy of ISIS. Israel’s leaders have reportedly considered establishing a “safe zone” on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights for Druze refugees who may flee their homes.

In the meantime, Israeli armed forces continue to treat Syrians wounded in the civil war who arrive at the border. They are admitted to field hospitals with those seriously injured transported to hospitals in Israel.