20 July 2016•Update: 20 July 2016
By Mohamad Misto
QUNEITRA, Syria
Israeli jets on Wednesday struck a position held by the Assad regime in Syria’s southwestern Quneitra province in ostensible retaliation for regime violations in the buffer zone separating Syria from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, local residents said.
Residents, who spoke anonymously due to fears for their safety, said Israeli warplanes had struck a concentration of regime troops in the city of Baath in the Syrian Golan Heights.
Black smoke billowed from the area in the wake of the strikes, according to local residents of the area.
Late Tuesday, Syrian regime forces shelled the ruined town of Quneitra, located in the buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The shelling had caused the death of a young girl and the injury of two children, local sources told Anadolu Agency.
Wednesday’s incident was the third time within one month for Israeli warplanes to target Syrian regime forces in the Quneitra province.
The recent spate of airstrikes follows reports of the deployment of Hezbollah fighters -- who since 2012 have been fighting alongside the Assad regime -- in Quneitra.
According to a 1974 disengagement agreement between Syria and Israel, a cease-fire line separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from a Syria-administered buffer zone.
The agreement calls on both Syria and Israel to refrain from all military action in the area in line with UN Security Council Resolution 339 of 1973.
