Defense officials are investigating whether the lone gunman was carrying explosives or other weapons. He crossed the border near the Tel Hezka army outpost and tried to explode a gasoline tank by shooting at it before soldiers returned the fire and arrested him without injuring him.
The terrorist was identified as a resident of a Syrian village, and he disclosed that he intended to kidnap an Israeli soldier and take him to Syria.
The Syrian-Israeli border is extremely sensitive because of the strategic importance of the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon, currently the highest point in Israel. The Golan borders along the northwest of Lake Kinneret, which is Israel's primary source of freshwater.
Syria controlled the Golan until attacking Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel defeated Syria and took control of the strategically sensitive area. Syria tried to recapture the areas during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
Although the Syrian border is relatively quiet compared to those of Lebanon and Egypt, Syria has been backing anti-Israeli terrorists. The Damascus regime supported Islamic Jihad terrorists who were behind the deadly suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv nightclub earlier this year that killed five Israelis and injured more than 20 others.
Last month, security forces arrested a Hamas terrorist, Osama Matar from Gaza who had completed training in Syria. There, he learned how to launch terror attacks and pack smuggling tunnels with explosives. Interviewed two weeks ago on Channel Two television, Matar revealed that the Hamas terrorist organization in Syria paid him more than $10,000 for three months while he trained at a Hamas base near Damascus.
The terrorist was identified as a resident of a Syrian village, and he disclosed that he intended to kidnap an Israeli soldier and take him to Syria.
The Syrian-Israeli border is extremely sensitive because of the strategic importance of the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon, currently the highest point in Israel. The Golan borders along the northwest of Lake Kinneret, which is Israel's primary source of freshwater.
Syria controlled the Golan until attacking Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel defeated Syria and took control of the strategically sensitive area. Syria tried to recapture the areas during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
Although the Syrian border is relatively quiet compared to those of Lebanon and Egypt, Syria has been backing anti-Israeli terrorists. The Damascus regime supported Islamic Jihad terrorists who were behind the deadly suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv nightclub earlier this year that killed five Israelis and injured more than 20 others.
Last month, security forces arrested a Hamas terrorist, Osama Matar from Gaza who had completed training in Syria. There, he learned how to launch terror attacks and pack smuggling tunnels with explosives. Interviewed two weeks ago on Channel Two television, Matar revealed that the Hamas terrorist organization in Syria paid him more than $10,000 for three months while he trained at a Hamas base near Damascus.