GOLAN HEIGHTS: Israel says shots fired from Syria hit Israeli troops at Golan Heights

Record ID: 279685

  • Title: GOLAN HEIGHTS: Israel says shots fired from Syria hit Israeli troops at Golan Heights
  • Date: 13th January 2009
  • Summary: GOLAN HEIGHTS (JANUARY 11, 2009) (REUTERS) SIGN READING: "CLOSED MILITARY AREA. ENTRANCE FORBIDDEN" / ZOOM OUT TO BORDER AREA BETWEEN THE GOLAN HEIGHTS AND SYRIA ISRAELI MILITARY JEEP DRIVING IN AREA ISRAELI SOLDIERS ON ROAD NEAR BORDER POLICE STANDING IN ROAD ROAD CLOSED WITH A BARRICADE / ISRAELI JEEP IN MIDDLE OF ROAD ISRAELI MILITARY AMBULANCE VAN DRIVING PAST VARIOUS
  • Embargoed: 28th January 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA7Z66XA0TXI1Q3UFY5Y72P6HSY
  • Story Text: The Israeli army said troops in the Golan Heights came under small arms fire from Syria on Sunday (January 11) and that, although no one was hurt, it had complained to the United Nations force that monitors the frontier area.
    "There were a number of bullets fired from Syria at an Israeli army force doing engineering work near the fence," an army spokesman said of the incident, which came amid an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that has outraged many Arabs.
    "No one was hurt but a vehicle was damaged," the spokesman added. "Forces in the field are examining the incident and a complaint was sent to UNDOF which sent a team there. The circumstances of the incident are still unclear."
    There was no immediate comment from Syria or from UNDOF, the U.N. force with monitors a usually quiet ceasefire line between Israeli forces on the Golan Heights and Syrian troops.
    Israel captured the plateau from Syria in a war in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognised internationally.
    Syria wants the land back and had begun Turkish-mediated indirect peace talks with Israel last year, the closest contact the two sides had had since 2000. Syria said it broke off the talks after Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip on December 27.
    Israel says it has stepped up security along its borders since the Gaza offensive began. Three rockets fired from Lebanon hit the north of Israel on Friday (January 9), although Israeli and Lebanese officials called this an isolated incident which they attributed to Palestinian refugee groups rather than Hezbollah guerrillas.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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