4 killed, 9 wounded in Israeli air strikes in Syria

BEIRUT — The Syrian government said Monday a series of Israeli air strikes targeting its troops in retaliation for a cross-border attack killed four people and wounded nine others, in its first comment on the overnight incident.

It said the attack was a “flagrant violation” of Syrian sovereignty, but in a departure from previous incidents when Israeli warplanes struck targets in Syria, the government did not vow retaliation.

Israel’s prime minister on Monday warned the warring parties in Syria against any attempt to heat up tensions along the disputed frontier, hours after the Israeli air force carried out a string of air strikes in Syria in response to the border attack, which killed an Israeli teenager riding in a civilian vehicle.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would respond with even tougher force if there are any further attacks.

“Last night we operated with great force against Syrian targets that acted against us, and if needed we will use additional force,” he told members of his Likud Party. “We will continue to forcefully hurt anyone who attacks us or tries to attack us.”

The Israeli military said the air raids struck nine targets in neighbouring Syria.

A statement issued by Syria’s foreign ministry said five Israeli warplanes carried out the raids, which were accompanied by mortar rounds and tank shells.

It said four people were killed and nine others wounded, adding that the attacks caused extensive damage to Syrian army positions and equipment. It did not provide further details.

The director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdurrahman, said the Israeli strikes destroyed two tanks, two artillery batteries and the headquarters of Syria’s 90th brigade.

The observatory collects its information through a network of activists inside Syria.

The Israeli military said “direct hits were confirmed” on the targets, which were located near the site of Sunday’s violence in the Golan Heights and included a regional military command centre and unspecified “launching positions”.

Israel has kept a close eye on the Syrian uprising since it began in March 2011, although it has avoided backing either side. On several occasions, artillery rounds have landed on the Israeli side of the de facto border, drawing limited Israeli reprisals.

Israel also has carried out several air strikes in Syria over the past three years, primarily targeting suspected weapons shipments allegedly destined for Hizbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.

The latest air raids, however, came after an Israeli civilian vehicle was struck by what the Israeli military said was an anti-tank missile fired from the Syrian side of the border as it drove in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

It was not clear whether the attack was by government troops or rebels.

A teenage Israeli boy was killed and two other people were wounded in what was the first deadly incident along the volatile Israeli-Syrian frontier since the start of the Syrian civil war.

The Israeli vehicle was delivering water in contract work for Israel’s defence ministry when it was struck.

Israel captured the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel, from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Its subsequent annexation of the area has never been recognised internationally.