BICOM

A mortar from the ongoing fighting across the Syrian border landed in Israel yesterday, prompting Israel’s military to respond by striking a Syrian army position.

A rocket warning siren was sounded in the northern Golan Heights yesterday afternoon and a mortar landed near the community of Ortal. The IDF assessed it was errant fire from battles which have been taking place all week between the Syrian army and rebel forces including the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front which has reportedly taken control of the Quneitra border crossing.

In response to the mortar fire, Israel fired a Tammuz missile at a Syrian army position. An IDF statement said that it holds “the Syrian army responsible for any shooting into Israel.”

The incident comes only a few days after Israel shot down a Syrian drone which entered Israeli air space. Last weekend, two Israelis were injured in what appeared to be stray fire, a not uncommon occurrence during the past several months. Also last weekend, Al-Nusra seized 45 Fijian UN peacekeepers who are still being held, while another 70 or so Filipino peacekeepers eventually dramatically escaped Al-Nusra, most probably across the Israeli border.

The recent increased fighting has raised fears that Islamist groups in Syria will pose a more direct threat to Israel in the future. The Financial Times this morning suggests that the Syrian border could become similar to Israel’s border with Egypt, from where Islamist groups have launched rockets and cross-border raids against Israel over a prolonged period. An unnamed Israeli officer told Haaretz this week that “we’re preparing ourselves” for an eventual engagement with Al-Nusra and suggested ISIS could also “show up later on.”

Yesterday, United States Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power suggested an additional threat, saying, “… if there are chemical weapons left in Syria, there will be a risk that those weapons fall into ISIL’s [ISIS] hands. And we can only imagine what a group like that would do if in possession of such a weapon.”