JERUSALEM, April 8 (Reuters) – Israeli jets struck Syrian military targets on Sunday in response to rockets fired into Israeli-controlled territory overnight, the Israeli military said, as violence flared again following of cross-border gunfire during the week.
Syrian state media reported explosions around the capital Damascus as Israel said its forces continued to strike Syrian territory after six rockets were fired overnight toward the Golan Heights.
Israel said artillery and drone strikes hit rocket launchers and were followed by airstrikes against a Syrian army compound, military radar systems and artillery posts.
The Israeli military “sees the State of Syria responsible for all activities taking place within its territory and will not allow any attempts to violate Israeli sovereignty,” the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement.
The Syrian defense ministry said its air defenses responded to Israeli attacks and intercepted several Israeli missiles. It said no casualties were reported with only material damage caused by the strikes.
Sirens sounded earlier near towns in the Golan Heights as rockets were launched from Syrian territory, but no damage or casualties were reported. Israel occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed the 1,200-square-km (460-square-mile) territory in 1981, a move not recognized by much of the international community.
Only three of the rockets crossed Israeli-controlled territory, with two falling on open ground and a third intercepted by air defense systems, the military said.
Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV said the rocket salvoes were claimed by the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement.
On Thursday, more than 30 rockets were fired toward Israel from southern Lebanon, triggering cross-border counterstrikes from Israel on sites linked to the Islamist movement Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza.
The cross-border exchanges come amid heightened tensions between Israel and Palestinian groups following Israeli police raids in recent days on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, sparking outrage across Arab world.
Israel said the operations were intended to drive out groups of what police called extremists who had barricaded themselves in the mosque armed with fireworks and stones.
But the raids, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, have sparked outrage and concern even among Israel’s US allies, with mobile phone footage from inside the mosque showing police beating worshipers.
The site in Jerusalem’s Old City, holy to both Muslims and Jews, known as the Temple Mount, has been a long-standing flashpoint, particularly over the issue of Jewish visitors fighting a ban on non-Muslim prayer at the compound. mosque.
Clashes there in 2021 helped spark the 10-day war between Israel and Hamas. Recent exchanges of cross-border fire have awakened memories of that conflict.
Despite fears of further violence around the mosque on Saturday, there were no reports of serious unrest overnight.
In a separate incident, a Palestinian man was shot by Israeli forces during a confrontation in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military and the Palestinian health ministry said.
Reporting by James Mackenzie and Muhammad Al Gebaly; Additional reporting by Moaz Abd-Alaziz in Cairo; Editing by Angus MacSwan and William Mallard
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