Israel strikes Syria ‘in response to’ new rocket attacks — Israeli army

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Israel strikes Syria ‘in response to’ new rocket attacks — Israeli army

The Israeli army announced early Sunday it was “currently striking” an area in Syria from which rockets were fired the night before.

“The strike was carried out in response to the rockets fired towards Israeli territory,” the army said in a short statement.

It added that it had also used a drone to target the aircraft from which the rockets were fired.

In total, six rockets were fired from Syria, with some of them landing in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the army said, adding that warning sirens sounded in several areas.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move that was never recognised by the international community.

Saturday and Sunday’s exchanges of fire come after an escalation in violence in the region.

On Wednesday, Israeli riot police stormed the prayer hall of Al-Aqsa mosque in a pre-dawn raid aiming to dislodge “law-breaking youths and masked agitators” they said had barricaded themselves inside.

On Thursday, more than 30 rockets were fired from Lebanese soil into Israel, which the Israeli army blamed on Palestinian groups.

The army then retaliated by carrying out strikes in Gaza and Southern Lebanon.