Israel strikes Syria after errant mortar hit Golan Heights

The Israeli military struck Syria in retaliation to a mortar that landed in the Israeli-held Golan Heights on Sunday, the Israeli army said.

"Israel Defense Forces (IDF) targeted cannons of the Syrian regime in the northern Syrian Golan Heights," a military spokesperson said in a statement.

The attack followed a mortar that fell in an open field in the Golan, causing no injuries or damages.

The army also said it holds the Syrian government "accountable for this blatant breach of Israel sovereignty, and will continue to safeguard Israel."

An earlier military statement said that the mortar was believed to be a spillover from fire from Syria's civil war.

Errant fire from the fighting in Syria has occasionally been spilling over to Israel, usually causing no casualties or damages.

Israel had occupied the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed the territory in 1981.

In July, the Israeli army failed to intercept an unmanned aerial vehicle over the Golan Heights, despite launching two Patriot air defense missiles at it, the IDF spokesperson said.

The drone had apparently returned to Syria.

Israel had repeatedly declared it would not intervene in the internal fighting in Syria, amid the civil war that broke out in 2011. It did deliver medical treatment to hundreds of wounded Syrians who reached the border.

Israel had also been responsible for several airstrikes in Syria in the past several years, allegedly targeting convoys carrying weapons from Iran and Syria to the Lebanese Hezbollah militant organization, a staunch enemy of Israel.

The country remained quiet on its part up until two months ago, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel carried out "dozens" of attacks across the border. Endit