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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) dropped leaflets over the southern Syria governorate of al-Qunitra on June 25, claiming responsibility for recent artillery strikes and warning the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) against violating “existing agreements”.
A series of artillery strikes targeted the outskirts of the town of al-Hmidaiah, which is located right on the front with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on June 24, causing material losses only. The IDF didn’t make any announcement at the time.
However, in the leaflets dropped over al-Qunitra the next day, the IDF acknowledged the strikes, warning the SAA against illegitimate military presence on the front.
The leaflets also included vague aerial photos showing an unidentified individual wearing civilian clothes and carrying what appears to be a camera in a residential building.
“To the commanders and troops of the Syrian army … We attacked the al-Hmidaiah area. We do not accept a military presence that violates the existing agreements! We do not accept violations in any form! This is the price!” one of the leaflets read.
The agreement cited by the IDF is likely the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria, which prevents the SAA from operating in a United Nations-observed buffer zone on the Syrian side of the front. This 235 square kilometer zone includes al-Hmidaiah.
Tensions rose between Israel and Syria after the outbreak of the war in the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip last October, which led to clashes between the IDF and the Syria-backed Hezbollah in nihboring Lebanon.
The IDF intensified strikes on the war-torn country. Last week, an Israeli drone strike on a military site near the town of Saidah in al-Qunitral claimed the life of an SAA officer. Before that, an IDF drone crashed in the governorate for unknown reasons.
Recently, observers warned that Israel could escalate further against Syria as an alternative for a costly military operation against Hezbollah.
Russian forces in Syria have already established a series of observation posts along the front with Israel in order to prevent such a catastrophic scenario.
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