rocket fire into Israel from Syria

Published on : 08/04/2023 – 22:46

Three rockets were fired from Syria into Israel on Saturday night, the Israeli military reported, following similar fire from neighboring Lebanon in recent days and amid increased violence in the Middle East.

One of the rockets “fell in a wasteland in the southern Golan Heights” annexed by Israel, the army said in a short statement, without giving further details.

She had previously said warning sirens had sounded in that area.

Israel conquered in 1967 and annexed part of the Syrian Golan Heights, a strategic region also bordering Lebanon.

Palestinian killed in West Bank

On the same evening, a Palestinian was killed with live ammunition by Israeli forces in the northern occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported on Saturday.

Ahed Salim, 20, died of “occupation” (Israeli) bullets in the chest and stomach, in Azzun, near the town of Qalqilyah, the ministry said in a short statement, without specifying the circumstances.

Asked by AFP, the Israeli army did not comment on this information immediately.

Rocket rain from Lebanon

The Jewish state has recently intensified its raids in Syria, targeting in particular the positions of pro-Iran groups, its number one enemy.

Saturday’s firing follows an unprecedented escalation on the Israeli-Lebanese front since 2006. On Thursday, around 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, injuring one person and causing material damage.

The Israeli army said that the shots, unclaimed, were “Palestinian”, and most likely the Islamist movement Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip.

The army retaliated by carrying out strikes in Gaza and southern Lebanon.

This new outbreak of violence comes after the brutal irruption of Israeli forces in the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on Wednesday, in the middle of Ramadan, which aroused numerous condemnations.

With AFP