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| Israeli tanks on guard at the Syrian border |
The Syrian government boasted that it destroyed an Israeli military vehicle in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, according to a statement released by the Syrian government.
Syria said Tuesday that it destroyed an Israeli vehicle that crossed the ceasefire line on the Golan Heights during the night, while the Israeli army said Syria shot at an Israeli patrol, damaging a vehicle. Israel also said that its troops fired back at Syrian soldiers.
Both armies seem to be referring to the same incident.
The Syrian civil war has sometimes reached the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, a strategic plateau which Israel captured in the 1967 war. Israel assumes that most incidents are accidental fire, but its forces have responded to some attacks.
Tuesday's incident, however, was the first time that the Syrian army has acknowledged firing at Israeli troops at the border, and it appeared to be an attempt by the regime of President Bashar Assad to retaliate after three Israeli air attacks near Damascus, earlier this year.
The strikes reportedly targeted Syrian arms shipments destined for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Those attacks marked a sharp escalation of Israel's participation in the Syrian civil war. The attacks also raised fears that the conflict could become a full-blown regional war.
“I believe that the Syrian president is smart enough to understand that the last thing his country needs is a full blown conflict with Israel. I hope the situation calms down soon,” Isaac Wolfe, 39, of Tel Aviv, Israel told YourJewishNews.com after learning about the latest Syrian attacks.