BICOM

Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system was brought into action on the Syrian border last night as mortars from Syria landed in Israel.

The Iron Dome has been used with some regularity to combat rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and has also been activated near Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat, due to rockets fired by Islamist groups in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. However, yesterday evening saw the Iron Dome activated in the north of the country after two mortar shells were fired from Syria onto the Golan Heights.

The shells were not intercepted, but landed without causing any injuries or damage. However, some reports indicated that they caused fires in the area which were quickly extinguished. The IDF said that “initial reports suggest” the mortars were the “result of errant fire” from fighting in Syria. The incident comes after Israel fired a precision anti-tank missile at a target inside Syria on Sunday in response to mortar fire in the direction of an Israeli military post on the Golan Heights. Israel has periodically responded to firing in its direction with precision strikes against the source of fire. Fighting between Syrian President Assad’s forces and rebel fighters has repeatedly come close to the border, with Assad forces in the area trying to break a rebel siege.

The IDF has recently made preparations in anticipation of a worsening security situation and growing terrorism threat in the Syria border region, including with the creation of a new territorial division in the area. However, Haaretz suggests that yesterday’s mortars may have been celebratory fire from the announcement of Syrian President Assad’s apparent electoral victory. Assad reportedly won 88.7 per cent of the vote, technically granting him another seven year term in power, although the country’s brutal civil war continues to rage. US Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated Western rejection of the Syrian vote, which excluded millions of Assad’s opponents, calling the poll “a great big zero.”