Events on Golan Heights

Is Israel going to join the fight against Syria?

PM, defense minister speak of ISIS on the Syria-Israel border following attempted attack on IDF soldier on the Golan Heights.

J Post,

28 November, 2016

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Islamic State and other groups in Syria on Monday that Israel would have a zero tolerance policy for attacks across its border.

Speaking to the Likud faction, he said over the past few days there were multiple attempts to attack the IDF on the border with Syria.

He said Israel responded with great force and “its enemies” have paid a heavy price.

“We are paying close attention to developments and continuing with determination to implement the policy that I establish. We will not tolerate even isolated fire, and we will respond forcefully and attack our enemies when necessary before they succeed in attacking us,” he said. “We will not permit radical Islam or any other hostile entity to open a front of terror against us on the Golan.”

Early Monday morning, the IDF responded for a second time to a Sunday attack by an ISIS-linked terror cell against the Israeli Golani Reconnaissance Battalion operating along the Syrian border. The military said that the Israeli Air Force attack targeted an ISIS-held location in the south of the Syrian Golan heights early Monday.

Some 10 tons of explosives were said to have been dropped by the IAF on the ISIS target in the retaliatory strike, a day after the IAF killed four members of the Khaled Ibn al-Walid Brigade (formerly known as the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade) cell following a cross-border exchange of fire.

Earlier Monday, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman also threatened ISIS in a meeting of his Yisrael Beytenu faction.

He said that Israel did not have to coordinate its response to attacks in Syria with Russia, and that even though Israel normally holds Syria responsible for attack from its soil, this time it was clear that the perpetrators were from ISIS.

“Israel is not seeking adventures, but we will respond to any provocation, wherever it comes from, with great force,” he said, whether the attacks come from Syria, Lebanon or Gaza.

At the faction meeting, a reporter asked Liberman about whether his party’s support for the death penalty for terrorists also applied to arsonists, who he has said are terrorists. He responded that the arsonists would be severely punished, but not with the death penalty.

BREAKING: Israeli jet carries out airstrike near Damascus

AMN,

30 November, 2016

Moments ago, an Israeli jet fired four longe-range 'Popeye' missile upon the government-held town of Al-Saboorah, west of Damascus.

The overnight explosions were so loud they could be heard by an Al-Masdar News field correspondent in downtown Damascus.

The jet did not penetrate Syrian airspace but did allegedly breach Lebanese airspace in order to come within striking range of its designated target.

Although mere speculation for now, the Israeli airstrike likely intended to assassinate a senior Hezbollah figure due to Al-Saboorah's proximity to the Damascus-Beirut Highway, a main road often used by the Lebanese resistance movement.

On Monday, the Israeli Air Force also conducted an airstrike in the Syrian Golan Heights, targeting the ISIS-affiliated Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade.

UPDATE: The latest report (not confirmed by Al-Masdar's military sources) suggests the missiles struck a Hezbollah workshop for vehicles. No casualties reported as mechanics had retired for the night.