Israel Air Force strikes and kills seven Islamic State terrorists who infiltrated Syrian border
The Israeli Defence Forces said it launched an airstrike on Wednesday night, killing seven terrorists from the Islamic State who had infiltrated Israeli territory in the Golan Heights along the Syrian border.
File photo: Two Israeli F-35 “Adir” jets fly in formation. Credit: U.S. Air Force/1st Lt. Erik D. Anthony.
According to the IDF, Israel had been tracking the seven armed suspects from the Islamic State terror group in the southern Golan Heights near the area of the triangle of Israel, Jordan and the demilitarized zone of Syria when the Israeli Air Force aircraft struck them.
IDF Spokesman Jonathan Conricus said the terrorists had managed to infiltrate approximately 200 meters (650 feet) into a region between the Alpha Line and the security fence, but did not cross the security fence into Israel.
“IDF troops completed a search today where the 7 bodies were located, and in the same area the following was found: five AK-47 assault rifles, explosives, and what appear to be grenades,” the IDF Spokesperson Unit said.
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 2, 2018
The IDF also said that it holds the Syrian regime responsible for “all violent acts or threats” emanating from Syria.
“The IDF stands by the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement, which ended the Yom Kippur War and is still in effect today.”
Former head of the Counterterror Bureau at the Prime Minister’s Office, Brig. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Nuriel said in a call with reporters organised by the Israel Project that Israel will not allow any changes to the 1974 cease-fire agreement with Syria.
“We will not let anyone to change that cease-fire agreement from ‘74 [according to which only U.N. forces can be in the ‘grey area’ between Israel and Syria] and those seven people were inside that grey are which is unacceptable,” he said.
“When the Syrian forces with all their supporters are trying to capture the areas close to the borders we can expect more mistakes and more friction with us. Again, we told them very loud and clear, through the Russians and directly by UNDOF and others, Don’t change the rules … we will not let anyone, the Syrians, as well as ISIS, Hezbollah as well as the Iranians [breach the cease-fire area].”
The strike on the Islamic State terrorists comes amid a large-scale drill being held by the IDF’s Northern Commander to test its military preparedness.
Despite this latest incident, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces taking back territory in Syria from rebel groups, the situation is slowly returning to the one prior to the civil war, where Israel and Syria enjoyed decades of quiet along the border.
“In Syria, as far as we are concerned, the situation is returning to the previous one before the civil war—meaning there is a clear address, there is responsibility and there is a central government,” Lieberman said while touring northern Israel.
JNS
