Israel attacks Syrian targets after projectiles launched toward its territory
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has shelled southern Syria in response to two projectiles fired from that country, which landed in unpopulated areas of Israel without causing casualties, according to a military statement. The Syrian government condemned the Israeli response, announcing "serious human and material losses" in the Daraa region and rejecting "all responsibility for the firing," blaming the incident on actors seeking to "destabilize the region."
"Israeli artillery recently attacked southern Syria after projectiles were fired toward Israeli territory," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a brief statement released Tuesday.
"Two projectiles were identified crossing Syria into Israeli territory and landing in unpopulated areas," the IDF said in a statement, adding that "artillery shelled southern Syria" in response. It is the first time in more than a year that an attack against Israel has been recorded from Syrian territory, according to the Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel.
The projectiles triggered alarms in the towns of Haspin and Ramat Magshimim in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, and according to the Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom, no casualties have been reported so far.
Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced a "full response" to the Syrian missiles and held the current president of that country, Ahmed al-Sharaa, "directly responsible for all threats and shots fired at the State of Israel."
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December and the rise to power of Ahmed al-Sharaa in Syria, Israel has frequently bombed areas of the neighboring country to destroy weapons. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported carrying out two airstrikes, one of which destroyed weapons belonging to the Syrian regime. The Israeli army also took control of the Syrian side of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights demilitarized zone.
Syria condemned the Israeli attack
The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli attack carried out Tuesday night in the south of the country, stating that it "resulted in serious human and material losses" in towns and cities in the Daraa region.
In a statement released by the Syrian news agency Sana'a, the ministry's press office emphasized that the bombing is a "clear violation of Syrian sovereignty and increases tension in the region," which, on the contrary, requires "peaceful solutions."
"We emphasize that Syria has not been and will not be a threat to anyone in the region, and the main priority in southern Syria is to expand state authority and end the presence of weapons outside the framework of official institutions," the ministry added in the statement.
