Israel Strikes Syria Armor, Hiking Spillover Fears - TIME

(TEL HAZEKA, Golan Heights) — An Israeli tank struck a Syrian army vehicle Monday after a mortar shell landed on Israeli-held territory, the military said, in the first direct confrontation between the countries since the Syrian uprising broke out, sharpening fears that Israel could be drawn into the civil war next door.

Israel has steadfastly tried to avoid getting sucked into the Syrian conflict, but it has grown increasingly worried after a series of mortar shells have struck territory in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights in recent days. On Sunday, Israel fired a "warning shot" into Syria in response to the shelling.

The conflict has already spilled over into several of Syria's other neighbors — whether in direct violence or in the flood of refugees fleeing Syria's bloodshed. On Monday, a Syrian fighter jet bombed a rebel-held area hugging the border with Turkey three times, killing more than a dozen people and bringing a protest from the Turkish government.

(MORE: Israel, Gaza Militants Trade Fire in Escalation)

Potential Israeli involvement in Syria could be far more explosive. Open hostilities between Israel and Syria could have wide-ranging consequences, dragging in Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group and perhaps Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip on Israel's southern flank.

Israeli military officials say they believe the mortar fire landing in the Golan is not an overt attempt to hit the Jewish state and is likely accidental as Syrian President Bashar Assad's army battle rebel forces trying to oust him.

But Israeli officials have begun to question that assessment and are now exploring whether any of the cross-border fire has been intentional. Israeli officials have long feared that the embattled Assad might try to draw Israel into the fighting in an act of desperation. "We are closely monitoring what is happening and will respond appropriately. We will not allow our borders to be violated or our citizens to be fired upon," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday in a speech to foreign ambassadors.

In a statement, the military said Israeli tanks targeted the "source of fire" in Syria after the mortar shell landed in an open area of the Golan Heights. It confirmed "direct hits" on the targets.

Israeli military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under army guidelines, said an army vehicle carrying "Syrian mobile artillery" was hit. There was no immediate word on casualties on the Syrian side, but Israeli officials said the vehicle was believed to belong to the Syrian government.

The incident began when Syrian military units were shelling gunmen in the Syrian village of Bariqa, which lies only several hundred meters from the frontier with the Israeli-held Golan. An Associated Press photographer on the Golan side saw gunmen, presumably rebels, running as explosions shook the village from the shelling by Syrian army mobile artillery visible about a mile away (2 kilometers).

The rebels fired back with automatic weapons, then fled, running toward the Golan border and taking refuge under some trees. A few minutes later, the rebels made their way back to the village. Bursts of artillery fire could be heard every few minutes, and about a half hour later, the Syrian shell struck the Golan, making a loud whistling sound before impact.

(MORE: Israel Fires at Syria for 2nd Straight Day)

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based anti-Assad activist group that relies on a network of activists on the ground in Syria, said three rebel fighters were killed Monday in clashes with the Syrian army in Bir Ajam, a village neighboring Bariqa.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the Britain-based group, said rebels belonging to an Islamist group attacked several Syrian military checkpoints and that government forces fighting back for control of the area.

The state-run news agency SANA has not commented on the fighting in the area or the clash with Israel.

By ARIEL SCHALIT and JOSEF FEDERMAN
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Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Suzan Frazer in Ankara, Turkey, and Mehmet Guzel in Ceylanpinar, Turkey, contributed to this report.