Israel responds to shelling attack from Syrian territory
The IDF is striking the source of the fire
TEL AVIV, December 3. /TASS/. The Israeli military detected a launch from Syria’s territory and fired back, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
"Following the initial report regarding sirens sounding in Keshet in northern Israel, a projectile was identified crossing from Syria. The projectile fell in an open area. The IDF is striking the source of the fire", it said.
Keshet, an Israeli settlement with a population of about 860, is located in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights.
The Golan Heights belonged to Syria since 1944 but were seized by Israel after the Six-Day War 1967. In 1981, Israel’s Knesset (parliament0 passed a law proclaiming Israel’s sovereignty over this territory. However, United Nations Security Council Resolution 497 dated December 17, 1981 recognized the annexation as invalid.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.