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Syrian Soldier Killed By Israeli Retaliation for Mortar Strikes

However, the military said the missiles were nowhere near the vicinity of the Israel aircraft.

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An additional projectile was intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system a short while later, according to the IDF.

An Iron Dome system intercepted a rocket that was launched from Syria towards the Israeli Golan Heights today (Saturday).

The projectile’s landing in the Golan appeared to be spillover fire from fighting in Syria.

It was a marked departure from recent tit-for-tat artillery fire and occasional retaliatory air strikes.

The rockets were reportedly errant fire from Syrian rebel forces fighting the Syrian regime, in the country’s ongoing civil war.

Israel has sought to avoid being drawn in to the conflict, but has attacked Syrian military targets when fire fell on its side of the divide.

While the projectiles were initially reported to have been bound for the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Israeli army said later that the rockets would have exploded on Syrian territory if not intercepted, according to Haaretz.

Hostilities between Israeli and Syrian forces escalated early Tuesday after the Syrian military said it had downed an Israeli warplane and a drone in retaliation for the latest airstrikes.

Earlier this week, JOL reported that a senior level Syrian Army official said that the recent tension in the region “is an Israeli attempt to escalate the situation and derail the ceasefire that was brokered by Russian Federation and the U.S.”.

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

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Funding for the missile system was part of an unprecedented $38 billion United States military aid package signed in Washington on Wednesday.

View from Israeli-occupied sector of Golan Heights shows border with Syria near village of Majdal Shmas