DAMASCUS, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Militants in Syria fired projectiles at Israeli settlements in the occupied Golan Heights on Monday, prompting retaliatory shelling from the Israeli military, according to Syrian pro-government media and a war monitor.
The pro-government Sham FM radio reported that agricultural lands in Daraa province, bordering the Golan Heights, sustained damage from Israeli artillery fire, adding the attack came in response to the launch of four missiles from Syria toward two Israeli settlements.
The report said the targeted Syrian lands are in the Yarmouk Basin, in the western countryside of Daraa. It added that the Syrian missiles landed near the Israeli settlements of Eliad and Avnei Etan.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said that "Iran-backed groups" fired rockets toward the Golan Heights, triggering Israeli artillery fire in the Yarmouk Basin.
Israel has intensified airstrikes on Syrian targets in recent weeks, coinciding with its ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip. The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks on Friday, demanding decisive action from the United Nations Security Council to halt them.
Syria's 12-year civil war pits President Bashar al-Assad's government, backed by Russia and Iran, against various opposition groups. Israel, meanwhile, has long sought to prevent Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria, conducting repeated airstrikes to target alleged "Iranian weapons supplies." ■
