Israel’s latest round of airstrikes against southern Syria continued into a second day today, after stray artillery shells crossed the disputed border and landed on the Israeli-held Golan Heights. Today’s Israeli strikes were somewhat deadlier, killing at least two civilians in Quneitra.
Israel had insisted that they had exclusively targeted military targets, saying they’d destroyed an “ammunition truck” and artillery positions, along with attacking a tank inside Syria. This is a fairly common reaction to stray shells by Israel, which has repeatedly attacked the Syrian military over the course of the protracted war within the country.
The Syrian Army isn’t very happy with the timing of this latest Israeli foray, however, noting that today’s strikes came at the exact same time al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front launched an offensive in the exact same area, accusing Israel of effectively providing air cover for the Islamists.
Israel is known to be providing substantial amounts of aid to rebels in this area of Syria, including some Islamist-leaning groups. It has never been confirmed that Nusra was among those getting supported by Israel, however it has been speculated by Syria that this might be the case, and Israel has accepted wounded al-Qaeda fighters crossing into Syria for treatment.