News / Syria

Searches underway for Israeli soldier missing in occupied Golan Heights

Thursday, 31 August 2017 2:42 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 31 August 2017 3:46 PM ]

Israeli soldiers take position during training in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on September 13, 2016. (Photo by AP)

Israeli military teams are searching the Golan Heights to find a soldier, who left his unit during military activity in the occupied territory on Wednesday and has since disappeared.

The searches are focused on Katzrin area in the central Golan Heights, where the missing soldier was last seen on Wednesday afternoon, the Times of Israel news website reported.

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.

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

During the past few years, Israel has frequently attacked Syrian military targets in the Golan Heights in what is considered an attempt to prop up terrorist groups that have been suffering heavy defeats 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.

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