Israel hits Syrian targets in Golan Heights

The Israeli air force struck a Syrian army target Monday in response to what the military said was stray fire into its zone of control on the Golan Heights.

"Earlier, stray fire from Syrian conflict breached Israeli territory in the Golan Heights," army spokesman Peter Lerner wrote on Twitter.

"Israel Air Force targeted Syrian Army launcher in Syrian Golan Heights, in response," he added.

A separate army statement said no injuries were reported on the Israeli side.

On July 4, the Israeli army said it had attacked two Syrian targets in the Golan Heights after stray fire damaged the security fence.

And on July 17, Israeli said its military fired two Patriot missiles at a drone that infiltrated from Syria.

While Israel has reportedly sought to avoid being dragged into the Syrian civil war, it has attacked Syrian military targets when fire from the conflict spills over into its territory.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also acknowledged in April that Israel had attacked dozens of convoys transporting weapons in Syria destined for its enemy Hizballah.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

In June Israeli media reports also revealed the Israeli media is establishing a special liaison unit purportedly to maintain communications with Syrian civilians living across Israel's northeastern border in the Golan Heights.

Despite Israel's recent statement, there have also been numerous reports that Israel is cooperating with Russia, the chief backer of the Syrian regime, in the conflict.  

Last month Israel has also reportedly targeted a village in the area controlled by Yarmouk Martyrs Brigades, a faction reportedly associated with the Islamic State, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.