BICOM

Two separate incidents raised security concerns on Israel’s northern and southern borders yesterday.

During the day, three Syrian mortar shells landed in and around the Israeli community of Alonei Habashan in the Golan Heights. Although an Israeli army spokeswoman said, “We believe these are stray shells, fired in the midst of internal Syrian fighting,” it was the first time that the community had been exposed to Syrian fire since 1974.

Yesterday’s incident was the third time in the past week that fighting in Syria appeared to spill over into Israeli territory. An Israeli military vehicle was struck by stray gunfire on Monday while last Saturday, three Syrian tanks, thought to be engaging opposition forces, briefly entered the demilitarised zone on the Golan Heights. Given the concerning frequency of these incidents, Home Front Defence Minister Avi Dichter said yesterday that Israel needs “nerves of steel” to deal with Syrian instability.

Meanwhile, an Israeli military vehicle was damaged and a soldier lightly injured near the border fence with the Gaza Strip yesterday. Israeli soldiers had entered 200m inside the Gaza Strip to uncover powerful explosives, following several recent roadside bomb attacks on Israeli border patrols. As the soldiers were returning, a massive blast threw the army vehicle 20m sideways. The explosives were detonated from within a huge tunnel, reported to be 5m wide and 4m deep. Israeli Army spokeswoman Avital Leibovich told reporters “We definitely see it as a very severe event. The amount of explosives were very big,” and speculated over the purpose of the explosion, saying “A kidnapping attempt is a possibility. Killing soldiers is a possibility.” Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, claimed responsibility for the explosion.