The Israeli Air Force (IAF) attacked several sites on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights overnight Tuesday, in retaliation for a terror attack in which four soldiers were wounded on Tuesday afternoon.
In a statement, the IDF Spokesperson said that the targets had aided and abetted the attack against IDF soldiers and included artillery batteries and a training camp belonging to the Syrian army.
“The IDF reserves the right to act in any way and at any time it sees fit to protect the residents of Israel,” said the statement.
Tuesday’s attack occurred as an explosive device went off on the Golan Heights, as an IDF jeep was passing by.
The incident occurred near the border with Syria, outside the village of Majdal a-Shams. The soldiers were taken to the Rambam Hospital in Haifa, where they were airlifted by helicopter. One of the soldiers sustained serious injuries in the explosion.
An explosive device similarly went off as IDF soldiers patrolled near the Lebanese border last Friday. No one was injured in that incident, although three soldiers were treated for shock at Ziv Hospital in Tzfat.
The following day, Saturday, IDF soldiers identified several individuals approaching the border in a suspected attempt to set another explosive. The soldiers fired on the suspects, who fled.
Following Tuesday’s incident, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Israel's northern border was heating up, creating a “security challenge” for Israel.
Hezbollah sources later said that the explosion had been an attempt to kidnap soldiers. The kidnapping attempt was reported by Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television, but was not confirmed by other sources.