- Title: Israeli air strike kills four Islamic State-linked gunmen on Golan
- Date: 27th November 2016
- Summary: HAIFA, ISRAEL (NOVEMBER 27, 2016) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER, BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, WALKING IN FOR CABINET MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER, BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, SAYING: "Firstly I would like to praise IDF soldiers who today successfully prevented an attempt to attack us where the three borders (Israel, Syria and Lebanon) meet. We are well prepared on our northern frontier, we will not allow Islamic State, or any other faction, to establish a presence near our borders under the cover of the war in Syria." CABINET MEETING
- Embargoed: 12th December 2016 13:37
- Keywords: Israel Syria Benjamin Netanyahu air strike Islamic State Golan Heights
- Location: GOLAN HEIGHTS / HAIFA, ISRAEL
- City: GOLAN HEIGHTS / HAIFA, ISRAEL
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA0025A7Y43R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Israeli aircraft killed four Islamic State-linked gunmen on Sunday (November 27) after they fired mortars and shot at troops patrolling along the occupied Golan Heights, the military said.
Israel has often responded to errant fire from the Syrian civil war, but exchanges of fire with gunmen on the Golan have been rare since the fighting began more than five years ago.
During the weekly cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to prevent Islamic State from setting up a presence near the borders with Israel.
The militants fired at the Israeli soldiers, who were on the Israeli-controlled territory, from a vehicle driving along the Syrian side of the Golan, said Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner in a statement.
The troops fired back before Israeli aircraft struck.
"The air force intervened, targeted the vehicle the gunmen were in and hit and struck the vehicle, killing what seems as four terrorists," the statement said. He added that the militants were from the Islamic State-affiliated Yarmouk Martyrs Brigades.
Previous Israeli attacks deeper in Syria have mainly targeted supply routes and arms depots of Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, whose fighters support Syrian President Bashar al Assad's army.
There was no immediate response from the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade.
Israel captured the western Golan in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it, a move not recognised internationally. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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