Errant fire from Syria into the Israeli-held Golan Heights prompted the retaliatory move and warnings from Israel.
Smoke rises after shells exploded in the Syrian village of Bariqa, close to the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria, near Alonei Habashan on the Israeli occupied Golan Heights November 7. On Sunday, Israel fired warning shots into Syria.
Baz Ratner/Reuters
EnlargeIsrael?was drawn into the Syrian civil war for the first time on Sunday, firing warning shots into the neighboring country after a stray mortar shell from across the border hit an Israeli military post.
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The Israeli military said the mortar fire caused no injuries or damage at the post in the Golan Heights, which Israel?captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and then annexed. But in recent weeks, incidents of errant fire from Syria to the north have multiplied, leading?Israel?to warn that it holds Syria responsible for fire on Israeli-held territory.
"A short while ago, a mortar shell targeted an IDF (Israel?Defense Forces) post in the Golan Heights," said army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich. "We answered with a warning shot toward Syrian areas. We understand this was a mistake and was not meant to target?Israel?and then that is why we fired a warning shot in retaliation."
The Israeli military also said it filed a complaint through United Nations forces operating in the area, stating that "fire emanating from Syria into?Israel?will not be tolerated and shall be responded to with severity."?Israel returned fire with an anti-tank missile.
Nineteen months of fighting and the mounting chaos engulfing the regime of President Bashar Assad have already spilled across borders with Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan. The danger of drawing in?Israel?as well to a wider regional conflagration is one of the worst-case-scenarios for the civil war.
Violence also flared Sunday on Syria's northern border with Turkey, a common flashpoint. Syrian army forces backed by helicopter gunships and artillery attacked a border area with Turkey after rebels captured a crossing point, activists said.
The Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Ras al-Ayn border area in Syria's northeast was "under siege" as dozens of rebels tried to hold onto the border crossing.
The upheaval has largely had no direct impact on Syria's bitter foe?Israel, and their shared border has remained mostly quiet, as it has been since a 1974 cease-fire.
Still,?Israel?worries that Syria's civil war could spill across into the Golan ??a concern made more immediate by multiple cases of errant fire in recent weeks and?Israel's?claim that three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized zone on the plateau this month for the first time in 40 years.
Israeli officials do not see PresidentAssad trying to intentionally draw?Israel?into the fighting, though they have raised the possibility of his targeting?Israel?in an act of desperation. Israeli officials have repeatedly said it is only a matter of time before Assad's regime collapses.
Over the weekend, Vice Premier Moshe Yaalon said?Israel?recently conveyed several messages to Syria and Damascus had "conducted itself appropriately." He did not elaborate.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet that?Israel?is "closely monitoring" the border with Syria and is "ready for any development."
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