BICOM

For the fourth time in the past week, a stray mortar from the fighting in Syria has landed on the Israeli Golan Heights, prompting the IDF to return fire.

The mortar landed at about 9pm local time. It did not cause any injuries or damage. Nonetheless, Israeli forces responded in the early hours of this morning by targeting two artillery positions belonging to the Syrian army. The IDF made clear that as the nominal ruling power, it holds President Bashar al-Assad’s government responsible for such incidents from Syrian territory.

It was the fourth time in the past week that errant mortar fire has reached Israel. Although none have caused any injuries, one mortar last week damaged a road. On each occasion, the IDF has responded by returning fire at Syrian army positions. Although Israel has remained firmly on the sidelines during the five-year Syrian civil war, stray fire has infrequently landed in Israel, prompting an IDF response.

Yesterday’s mortar fire reached Israel about two hours after a ceasefire was meant to come into effect across much of Syria. The truce had been finalised over the weekend following talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The al-Assad regime and most of the opposition factions who oppose his rule had agreed to the ceasefire, which is also designed to facilitate much needed aid to civilians trapped in Aleppo and other areas of high-intensity conflict.

However, the Guardian says that explosions were reported last night in Aleppo, the southern city of Derra and elsewhere. President al-Assad vowed that he is “determined to recover every area” lost to opposition forces.