Israel strikes Hezbollah in Syria: reports
January 18, 2015
The strike by an Israeli helicopter killed at least five Hezbollah members inside Syria on Sunday, according to news agencies quoting sources close to the Lebanon-based movement.
They were understood to have been killed in the attack on a convoy conducting a field reconnaissance mission in the province of Quneitra, which is near the frontier separating the Syrian and Israeli parts of the Golan Heights.
"A group of Hezbollah mujahedeen were martyred in a Zionist rocket attack in Quneitra, and their names will be revealed later," reported Hezbollah's Al-Manar news channel.
Thought to be among the dead was Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Hezbollah's late military leader Emad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in 2008. Hezbollah had blamed Israel for that killing.
While there was no early official confirmation from Israel's military of the attack, an Israeli security source told news agency AFP that an Israeli helicopter carried out a strike Sunday against "terrorists" in the area and alleged that the targets, whom the source did not name, were preparing an attack on Israel. No further details were given.
Israel has sporadically conducted several strikes inside Syria since that country's civil war began almost four years ago. In many of the cases, Israel said it was targeting weapons such as missiles which it said were destined for delivery to its long-time foe, Hezbollah in Lebanon. This latest strike comes days after Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said Syria and its allies had the right to respond to Israeli attacks.
Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967, an occupation which is not recognized by the international community.
se/tj (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)