ISRAELI AIR STRIKE KILLS 18 IN SYRIA

Quneitra(Syria), 18 Ramadan 1435/16 July 2014 (MINA) – At least 18 people have been killed in an Israeli air attack Monday in Syria’s Quneitra province.

Assad al-Jolani, a representative of a Syrian opposition media center in Golan and Quneitra, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday that an Israeli warplane bombed a governor’s building and military stations leaving 18 people dead, including eight civilians and 10 Assad-regime soldiers. Several people were also wounded, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The Syrian regime did not resist the Israeli bomb raid and attacked opposition controlled areas with missiles, Jolani said.

Previously, Israeli occupation forces shelled several areas in southern Lebanon with dozens of rocket-propelled grenades, a Lebanese security source said on Friday, July 11.

“Three rockets were fired from the area of Hasbaya in southern Lebanon towards Israel this morning,” the source said.

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The source adding that “the anonymous rocket launchers” tried to launch a rocket at Israel yesterday evening, but it fell on Lebanese territory.

He added that Israeli artillery responded by bombing the town of Kfar Shuba and its surroundings with more than 25 rocket-propelled grenades. No injuries were recorded.

He pointed out that the southern border is free of any Israeli patrols or UN peacekeepers, referring to the cautious calm prevailing in the region at the moment.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of firing rockets into Israel.

On June, at least 10 Syrian soldiers also have been killed and several others injured after Israeli jets attacked Syrian army positions in the Golan Heights.

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The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based in the UK, has confirmed the deadly attacks, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The Israeli aircraft targeted the Syrian army positions, while its tanks hit government targets in the Golan Heights region.

Tel Aviv says the assaults were in retaliation for the death of an Israeli settler in the occupied Golan Heights on Sunday.

Israeli security forces have said the death was caused by a mortar shell fired from Syria.

This comes as al-Qaeda-linked militants are fighting the Syrian government forces and stray mortar rounds have hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on several occasions.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since March 2011. Over 160,000 people have reportedly been killed and millions displaced due to the violence fueled by the foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists.

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According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — are supporting the Takfiris fighting the legitimate government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Golan Heights has been under Israeli occupation since the 1960s. The Israeli regime captured the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War of 1967, when it also took control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

It annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, although the move was never recognized by the international community and was a violation of international law.(T/P09/P04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)