Israel hits targets in Syria in response to rocket fire

Tel Aviv/Cairo, April 9, (dpa/GNA) – The Israeli military said early Sunday that it struck several targets in Syria after rockets were fired toward Israel. 

Six rockets were launched toward the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights starting late Saturday, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said, further heightening tensions in the region after a flare-up in violence. 

The attacks came in two barrages, the IDF said. In the second, two rockets “crossed into Israeli territory” and one rocket was intercepted. Earlier, three rockets had been launched with one landing in the southern Golan Heights. 

There were no reports of casualties. 

In response, the IDF said it hit the launchers in Syria from which the rockets were fired, as well as a Syrian military compound, radar systems and army artillery posts. 

Syria’s state news agency SANA said an Israeli missile attack had targeted sites in southern Syria, resulting in material damage. 

The agency, citing a military source, reported that Syrian air defences had repulsed the “Israeli aggression” and shot down some of the missiles. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, confirmed the attack, saying that Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling hit several military positions in Syria’s southern areas of Darra, Sweida and Quneitra. 

The hits caused material damage, according to the British-based watchdog. 

The attack followed two salvos of rockets earlier fired from inside Syria towards the Golan Heights, it said. 

The Golan Heights is a strategically important rocky region, about 60 kilometres long and 25 kilometres wide. The plateau was conquered by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967 and annexed in 1981. 

The international community considers the area Syrian territory occupied by Israel. 

Israel’s air force regularly bombs targets in neighbouring Syria, to prevent Iranian militias from expanding their military influence in the war-torn country. 

The missile attacks come amid high tensions in the region, after rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza and Lebanon in recent days, with Israel quickly initiating counterattacks. 

GNA 

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