BICOM

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded to a second round of rocket fire from Syria to the Golan Heights, prompting concern that the fire was intentional.

Five rockets were launched from an area controlled by the Syrian regime towards the Golan Heights on Saturday morning, of which four landed in open areas on the Israeli side of the border. The IDF responded by targeting three Syrian regime artillery positions.

The relatively large number of rockets fired and the fact that Saturday’s fire was the second time within two days led the IDF to describe the incident as “extraordinary”.

Security officials have questioned whether continued rocket fire from Syria is “spillover” of fighting for control inside southern Syria or intentional fire towards Israel. An IDF official told Yediot Ahronot that “[Saturday’s fire] is not what spillover looks like”.

A spokesperson for the IDF said: “Whether errant fire or not, any future occurrences will force the IDF to intensify its response. The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to breach Israeli sovereignty or to threaten the safety of its civilians, and holds the Syrian regime accountable for any aggression from within its territory.”

The Syrian army said the IDF shelling came after “Syrian opposition fighters fired mortar rounds that hit an open area in the Israeli-occupied Golan giving the Jewish state a pretext to bomb the army”. Syria also sent two letters to the UN Secretary-General and to the President of the UN Security Council, claiming that “Israel asked the terrorists in Syria to fire mortar shells at its territory so that it could create an excuse to fire at us”.

The Iranian Chief of Staff General Mohammad Baqeri said last Wednesday that Iran would not accept Israeli violations in Syria. “It is not acceptable for the Zionist regime to violate Syria anytime it wants,” Baqeri said during a meeting in Damascus with his Syrian counterpart, Ali Abdullah Ayyoub.

Israel is increasingly concerned that Russia and the US are unwilling to use their influence to convince Iran and the Syrian regime not to establish a military presence near the Israeli-Syrian border.