Israel army kills four men on Syria border — security source

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli armed forces on Sunday killed four people when they tried to plant bombs near the Golan Heights on the country's border with war-torn Syria, a security source said.

The incident occurred at night near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli occupied Golan, the source told AFP.

The army said on its official Twitter account that the operation targeted "terrorists" armed with explosives who "were en route to imminent attack on our forces. Our air force neutralised threat".

It made no mention of any casualties, however.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement praised "the vigilance" of Israeli troops.

"Every attempt to attack Israeli soldiers or civilians will be met with a decisive response like this operation which thwarted an attack," the statement from his office said.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres of the Golan from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and annexed it in 1981 in a move never recognised by the international community.

There has been repeated shooting across the ceasefire line since the uprising in Syria erupted in March 2011, some of it stray.

Syria and Israel are still officially in a state of war.