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golan heights
Syria has accused Israel of carrying out two airstrikes near Damascus.
Israeli planes bombed the area near Damascus international airport and the town of Dimas, the Syrian army said in a statement carried on state television.
No casualties were reported. There has been no confirmation of the air strikes from Israel.
Israel has conducted several air strikes on Syria since 2011.
“This afternoon, the Israeli enemy targeted two safe areas in Damascus province, namely the Dimas area and the Damascus International Airport,” the military statement said.
It described the air strikes as “direct aggression” carried out to help the Syrian government’s opponents.
Some installations had been damaged, it added, without elaborating on what had been hit.
Responding to the Syrian accusation, Israel’s military said it did not comment on “foreign reports”.
The Israeli air force has conducted several air strikes on Syria since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011.
Israel generally does not comment when it carries out attacks outside its borders.
However, Israeli jets were seen constantly flying over parts of Lebanon on December 7, about 20 miles from where the alleged attacks are said to have taken place.
The Israeli military has also bombed Syrian military sites in the past in retaliation for attacks on the occupied Golan Heights.
Israel seized Golan Heights from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 Middle East War, and thwarted a Syrian attempt to retake it in 1973.
It unilaterally annexed the area in 1981, in a move not recognized internationally.
Israel and Syria remain technically in a state of war, and UN observers are deployed to monitor a 44-mile demilitarized zone.
Israel has attacked several Syrian military sites in retaliation for a bombing that wounded four of its troops in the occupied Golan Heights.
Among the targets were a headquarters, a training facility and artillery batteries, the Israeli military said.
The Syrian army had “aided and abetted” the attack on a patrol near the ceasefire line on Tuesday, it added.
There has been no comment yet on the air strikes from Syria and it is not clear if there were any casualties.
The Israeli air force has conducted several aerial attacks on Syria since the uprising began three years ago.
Those air strikes are believed to have prevented the transfer of stockpiles of rockets from the Syrian government to Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement that supports President Bashar al-Assad.
Israel has attacked several Syrian military sites in retaliation for a bombing that wounded four of its troops in the occupied Golan Heights
The choice of targets demonstrates that Israel is clearly blaming Syrian government forces, and not rebel fighters or units of Hezbollah for the attack on its patrol.
Israel has used artillery against Syrian targets on the Golan to respond in previous incidents, but its use of military aircraft on this occasion raises the incident to a more significant level.
At the start of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned that his country would act “forcefully” to defend itself against any attack.
The Golan Heights, a rocky plateau in south-western Syria, has a political and strategic significance that belies its size.
Israel seized the region from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 Middle East War, and thwarted a Syrian attempt to retake it in 1973.
The two countries remain technically in a state of war, and UN observers are deployed to monitor a 44-mile-long demilitarized zone.
On Tuesday, the four Israeli soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, when an explosive device was detonated as they approached the fence demarcating the demilitarized zone.
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The UN has confirmed that about 20 observers have been detained by about 30 armed fighters in the Golan Heights on the Syria-Israel border.
A video posted earlier on the internet showed men claiming to be Syrian rebels standing next to vehicles with the letters “UN” written on them.
The UN said the observers were monitoring a ceasefire between Syria and Israel.
A team is being dispatched from the UN mission to assess the situation.
UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said the observers were on “a regular supply mission” when they were stopped near Observation Post 58 by the armed men.
He said the post had sustained damage and was evacuated over the past weekend following “heavy combat in close proximity”.
The spokesman did not provide any further details.
Some reports suggest the UN observers were from the Philippines.
In the video published on the internet, the gunmen identified themselves as the “Martyrs of Yarmouk”.
They are heard saying that the UN personnel would not be released until forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad withdrew from the village of Jamla in the area.
The video was circulated by the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The SOHR is one of the most prominent organizations documenting and reporting incidents and casualties in the Syrian conflict. The group says its reports are impartial, though its information cannot be independently verified.
About 20 UN observers have been detained by about 30 armed fighters in the Golan Heights on the Syria-Israel border
The UN has had its monitors in the area since the 1974 ceasefire between Israel and Syria.
Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967 and later annexed the territory – in a move that is not internationally recognized.
Recently there has been fighting in the eastern foothills of the Golan Heights between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and rebels.
Israel has said its policy is not to get involved in the Syrian conflict. However, in recent months it has retaliated when there has been Syrian fire into Israeli-controlled areas.
Israel has also reinforced a fence that runs along the armistice line, and officials say Syrian refugees will not be allowed into Israel en masse.
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