Tensions are escalating on the Syrian-Israeli border. Syrian media reported the wounding of three people after Israeli troops with armored vehicles penetrated the Quneitra province and set up a checkpoint there.
Three people were injured during an Israeli incursion into southern Syria, Syrian state media reported. The Israeli army said its soldiers fired on the suspects who “posed a threat”. TASR writes about it according to an AFP report.
- Three people were injured in an Israeli attack in southern Syria.
- Israel deployed military vehicles and smoke grenades during the operation.
- The Israeli army described the attack as a response to suspicious persons threatening soldiers.
Israel deployed several military vehicles and fired smoke grenades
Syrian state television reported that “three people were injured in the firing by the Israeli occupation forces in the town of Khan Arnaba in Quneitra province.” She added that Israeli forces deployed several military vehicles and transporters and also fired smoke grenades.
At the same time, the Syrian news agency SANA reported that Israeli forces set up a checkpoint near Khan Arnab “and are shooting at civilians.”
The Israeli military said in a statement that during “the operation in the Quneitra area of southern Syria, a confrontation occurred when several suspicious persons approached (Israeli) soldiers and threatened them.” The soldiers therefore “fired warning shots in the air and when the suspects did not move away, the soldiers responded and fired at the lower body of the two main instigators,” the army statement said.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Israel has repeatedly made incursions deeper into Syrian territory
The violence comes after Israeli forces killed at least 13 people in late November during an operation in southern Syria that the Israeli military said targeted the Islamist group. Six Israeli soldiers were injured in the attack.
After the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December last year, Israel sent its forces into the UN buffer zone that has separated the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria since 1974. Since then, Israel has repeatedly made incursions deeper into Syrian territory and has demanded the establishment of a demilitarized zone south of Damascus.
Syrian President Ahmad Shara warned on Saturday that Israel’s demand to establish a demilitarized zone in southern Syria puts his country in a dangerous position as Israeli forces continue to operate in the area and called on Israel to respect the 1974 withdrawal agreement.
