BEIRUT, LEBANON (4:45 P.M.) – The jihadist rebels of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham, alongside Jaysh Al-Tawhid, launched a major offensive in the Golan Heights, today, targeting the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) positions near their stronghold of Ba’ath City.

Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham and their allies began the offensive by attacking the Syrian Army’s defenses from their own positions at nearby Al-Hamidiyah and Al-Samdaniyah Al-Gharbiyah.

According to a military source, intense clashes are ongoing near Ba’ath City, as the jihadist rebels try to break-through the Syrian Army’s front-lines defenses.

The source added that the Syrian Air Force is high alert due to the Israeli military’s presence in the Golan Heights.

Syrian military intelligence officers believe Israel is coordinating this offensive in the Golan Heights and will not hesitate to shoot down government airplanes.</s>DAMASCUS, SYRIA (2:00 A.M.) – Israel is likely in direct military talks with jihadist commanders in Quneitra province whom have now established a joint operations room for the ongoing border offensive against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).

Preempted by supportive Israeli airstrikes earlier in the day, Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions attacked SAA positions around Baath city and overran multiple points, leading to the capture of the Mashtal Al-Zohor area on Saturday afternoon.

In the evening however, the SAA regrouped in Baath city and mobilized all its military capabilities for a swift counter-offensive which saw government troops retake all lost points within a couple hours, thus driving the jihadist militants back to their initial positions.

Amid the skirmishes, at least 20 jihadist militants were left dead on the battlefield while 1 tank and 1 technical were destroyed, a military source told Al-Masdar News.

Throughout the waves of insurgent attacks and following SAA counter-offensive, rearguard Syrian artillery units pounded the hostile jihadist belligerents.

With the tables suddenly turned in favor of the Syrian Government, the SAA is currently encroaching upon long-standing rebel heartland on the border with Israel. In turn, this could prompt Tel Aviv to launch fresh airstrikes against the SAA.

On Saturday afternoon, the Israeli Air Force destroyed two SAA tanks at the Municipal building area on the outskirts of Baath city, rendering it an easy target for rebel forces whom seemed well-prepared for offensive operations ahead of the Israeli sorties, suggesting at least tacit cooperation between the two parties in the face of a common foe.</s>Syrian channel al-Mayadeen reported that at least two Syrian soldiers were killed as a result of the Israeli airstrikes.

"In response to over 10 projectiles launched from Syria, IAF aircraft targeted origin of launches & 2 Syrian tanks," the IDF stated.

Following the attack the Israel’s Defense Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said that Israel would not tolerate encroachments on its sovereignty and security, even in the form of stray shelling.

“We will respond strongly, resolutely and with level-headedness to any such case,” Lieberman added.

However, the IDF attacked the Syrian Army’s positions despite the statements of the Syrian Army that the missiles toward Israel were launched by accident as it happened during a terrorist rebuttal in Syria.

A source on the ground told RIA Novosti that at that time the Syrian army was indeed resisting a major attack on the city of al-Baath in the province of Quneitra from al-Nusra Front.

“The army was facing a battle with the terrorists. The attackers suffered heavy losses. Aviation and artillery helped to repel the attacks,” the source said.

On Sunday, a similar incident occurred with the IDF again targeting the Syrian government troops' positions after several projectiles from Syria landed in the Golans.

The majority of such incidents are described by the Israeli military as accidental overspills during clashes between the Syrian government forces and opposition groups.

However, preserving control over the Golan Heights is a strategic issue for Israel.

The fertile lands of the Golan Heights were part of Syria up until 1967.

As a result of the Six Day War in 1967 the border area passed under the Israeli protectorate. In 1981, the Israeli parliament voted to annex two-thirds of the region.

The United Nations has repeatedly stated that Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights is illegal, calling for it to be returned to Syria.

Damascus also continues to consider the Golan Heights as illegally annexed. Some experts have noted that the settlement of the crisis in Syria will allow Damascus to direct its efforts on returning the lost territories.

The Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba movement, an Iraqi Shiite militia organization, has formed a brigade to liberate the Golan Heights from Israel, spokesman for the movement, Seyed Hashem Moussavi said earlier.

“After recent victories (in Syria), we have established the Golan Liberation Brigade," al-Moussavi said at a press conference, as quoted by the Tasnim News Agency.

He added, "If the Syrian government requests, we are ready to take actions to liberate Golan."

According to the spokesman, the Golan Liberation Brigade is made up of highly equipped and well-trained special forces.

Earlier, in May 2016, as a result of the Israeli Air Force airstrike on the outskirts of Damascus, the head of the Hezbollah special services, Mustafa Badr al-Din, was killed.

On March 17, the Israeli Air Force once again struck Syria and was fired upon in response from anti-aircraft installations.

According to Damascus, the Syrian anti-aircraft gunners managed to shoot down one of the four IDF aircraft. The Israeli side categorically denies this, claiming that all the aircraft returned to the base unscathed, while the S-200 missiles launched from the territory of Syria were shot down by the Israeli missile defense system.</s>Israeli forces fired on Syrian regime positions after projectiles from the war-torn country hit the occupied Golan Heights on Sunday, the army said, in the second such exchange in two days.

The military "targeted two artillery positions and an ammunitions truck belonging to the Syrian regime," a statement read, noting the army had also ordered Israelis to keep away from open areas near Quneitra, where internal fighting was heavy.

Hours earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Syrian spillover and Israeli retaliation that took place on Saturday and reportedly resulted in the death of two Syrian soldiers.

"We will not tolerate any spillover or trickle whatsoever -- neither mortars nor rockets, from any front. We will respond strongly to any attack on our territory or our citizens," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting.

Israel has conducted multiple air strikes in Syria since that country's civil war erupted in 2011, most of which it has said targeted arms convoys or warehouses of its Lebanese arch-foe Hezbollah, which is a key supporter of the Syrian regime.

"We also view with utmost gravity Iran's attempts to establish itself militarily in Syria as well as its attempts to arm Hezbollah -- via Syria and Lebanon -- with advanced weaponry," Netanyahu said on Sunday.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

Around 510 square kilometres of the Golan are under Syrian control.

The Israeli side of the Golan Heights has been hit sporadically by what is thought to be stray fire from fighting between forces loyal to Syria's government and rebels.

Syria and Israel are still technically at war.</s>(ASSOCIATED PRESS) The IDF on Sunday said it attacked a series of targets belonging to the Syrian military after several projectiles from neighboring Syria landed in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights for a second day.

The military said it targeted two Syrian artillery positions and an ammunitions truck. There were no immediate reports of casualties. But as an added precaution, the military instructed Israeli civilians from gathering in open areas in the border area.

It was the second straight day that Israel responded to what it has described as errant fire from Syria. Israel has tried to stay out of the six-year civil war in Syria and refrained from taking sides, but has responded to spillover fire on numerous occasions.

Israel also is believed to have carried out airstrikes on suspected weapons shipments to its archenemy Hezbollah, whose fighters are in Syria backing government forces.

“Our policy is clear: We will not tolerate any spillover or trickle whatsoever—neither mortars nor rockets, from any front,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday. “We will respond strongly to any attack on our territory or our citizens.”

He also said Israel views “with utmost gravity” Iranian attempts to gain a foothold in Syria or to provide advanced weapons to Hezbollah, its Lebanese proxy.

In Saturday’s fighting, Israeli aircraft struck various positions, destroying two tanks, in response to more than 10 projectiles that landed in its territory, the military said.

Syrian state media said a number of people were killed.</s>Israeli aircraft struck various positions in Syria Saturday, destroying two tanks, in response to more than 10 projectiles that landed in its territory, the military said. The flare-up marked a rare case of Israeli involvement in the bloody fighting next door.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Fox News.</s>TEL AVIV – The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday night released video footage showing the Israel Air Force earlier today carrying out three retaliatory strikes targeting Syrian Army positions inside Syria from which ten mortars were reportedly fired into the Jewish state earlier in the day.

The black and white IDF video shows one strike targeting a heavy machine gun and two strikes against two separate Syrian military tanks taking their positions.

The IDF believes the mortar shells that landed in Israel where likely spillover fire launched by groups fighting across the border in Syria, particularly in Quneitra, the small village near the Golan Heights’ border with southern Syria that falls within a zone formerly demilitarized by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the strikes “once again made our policy clear: We are not willing to accept any spillover or leakage of fire from any front. We will respond with force to any fire on our territory.”

The IDF video contradicts a Syrian military claim carried by Syrian state-run media that the Israeli strikes had targeted “services facilities and residential buildings in the surroundings of al-Baath city in Quenitra.” The Syrian military also claimed that two people died in the Israeli strikes.

Earlier on Saturday, the IDF instructed Israeli civilians to stay away from the border area near Quneitra.

“Due to the unacceptable breach of Israeli sovereignty, an official protest has been filed with UNDOF,” the IDF said on Saturday.

The IDF warned against any “attempt to harm the sovereignty of the State of Israel or the security of its residents, and sees the Syrian regime as responsible for what is happening in its territory.”

Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.</s>JERUSALEM: Israel said it had attacked Syrian military targets on Sunday after stray shells from fighting in Syria's civil war landed inside the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

The Syrian shells hit an open area in the northern Golan Heights, causing no injuries, and in retaliation the Israeli military said it "targeted two artillery positions and an ammunitions truck belonging to the Syrian regime".

It was the second day in a row that errant fire from Syria drew Israeli retaliation.

Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines of Syria's civil war, keeping watch over the Golan Heights frontier and occasionally carrying out air strikes or returning fire if there is a specific threat. It captured the Golan in a 1967 Middle East war.</s></s>The Syrian shells hit an open area in the northern Golan Heights, causing no injuries, and in retaliation the Israeli military said it "targeted two artillery positions and an ammunitions truck belonging to the Syrian regime".

It was the second day in a row that errant fire from Syria drew Israeli retaliation.

Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines of Syria's civil war, keeping watch over the Golan Heights frontier and occasionally carrying out air strikes or returning fire if there is a specific threat. It captured the Golan in a 1967 Middle East war.
Israel strikes two Syrian Army artillery positions and an ammunition truck in Quneitra Governorate, after stray shells from Syria land in the northern Golan Heights for a second day in a row.