Israel bombs Syria for second time in 24 hours

Israeli forces bombed Syrian regime artillery positions in south west Syria for the second time in 24 hours on Sunday.

The drone strikes hit three Syrian army positions in response to Syrian mortars landing in the Golan Heights - an area that Israel and Syria both lay claims over.

"In response to several Syrian projectiles launched towards Israel, IDF targetted 2 Syrian regime artillery positions & an ammunitions truck," a spokesperson for the Israeli forces wrote on Twitter.

There was no response from Damascus about the second attack, although a statement from central command said the first attack on Saturday was a "desperate attempt to support terrorist groups and raise their flagging morale".

On Saturday, Israel launched drone strikes against a number of Syrian tanks in the area surrounding Madinat al-Baath, near Quneitra.

Regime forces had been fighting fresh attacks by the Islamist rebel group, Jabhat al-Nusra, in the countryside near Quneitra.

Israel has responded to errant mortar strikes in a similar manner on a number of occasions.

In April, the Israeli air force carried out airstrikes on a Syrian military base near Damascus after regime mortars hit Israeli territory.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened to destroy Syrian air defense systems in March, after Damascus fired ground-to-air missiles at Israeli warplanes carrying out strikes.

Hizballah affiliated fighters are known to also patrol the border region and are occasionally assassinated by Israeli drones.

The armed Lebanese Shia militia is fighting alongside the Syrian regime in the country's six-year civil war.