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Israeli fighter jet bombs positions in occupied Golan Heights

Tuesday, 19 September 2017 3:11 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 19 September 2017 4:18 PM ]

A picture taken from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights shows smoke billowing from the Syrian side of the border on June 26, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

An Israeli fighter jet has targeted positions in Syria’s occupied Golan Heights after a Patriot missile allegedly intercepted and shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle purportedly operated by the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement.

Beirut-based and English-language Daily Star reported that the aerial assaults targeted a number of areas in Syria’s strategic southwestern region of Quneitra near the border with Israeli-controlled Palestinian territories.

Earlier, the Israeli media outlets claimed that Israel's military forces had struck a reconnaissance drone as soon as it had entered the skies over the occupied Golan Heights.

Israeli Military Spokesman Brigadier General Ronen Manelis said the Hezbollah-operated drone took off from Damascus International Airport.

During the past few years, Israel has frequently attacked military targets in Syria in what is considered as an attempt to prop up terrorist groups that have been suffering heavy defeats in their fight against Syrian government forces.

Back in April 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially admitted for the first time that the regime's military had conducted strikes in Syrian territory.

Damascus says Israel and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups operating inside the Arab country, while the Tel Aviv regime's military carries out such sporadic strikes against Syrian government forces. The Israeli regime has even set up field hospitals to treat wounded militants evacuated from Syria.

Moreover, the Syrian army has repeatedly seized huge quantities of Israeli-made weapons and advanced military equipment from the foreign-backed militants inside Syria.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 Six-Day War and later occupied it in a move that has never been recognized by the international community. The regime has built dozens of settlements in the area ever since and has used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government.

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