Iron Dome intercepts 2 projectiles over Golan Heights

The IDF assesses that the projectile were stray fire resulting from adjacent battles between Assad regime forces and rebels on the Syrian Golan.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN
Updated: SEPTEMBER 17, 2016 23:29
Trial of the Iron Dome system in the US. (photo credit: RAFAEL ADVANCED DEFENSE SYSTEMS)
Trial of the Iron Dome system in the US.
(photo credit: RAFAEL ADVANCED DEFENSE SYSTEMS)
An Iron Dome battery stationed on the Golan Heights intercepted two projectiles fired from Syria on Saturday afternoon, marking the first time that the rocket defense system shot down threats over the Golan since the outbreak of the civil war.
The IDF believes that both projectiles, intercepted in the afternoon and the evening, respectively, were stray fire resulting from nearby battles between Assad regime forces and rebels on the Syrian-held portion of the Golan.
According to an initial IDF investigation, neither projectile would have hit Israeli territory, had they not been intercepted.
The Golan Heights has recently seen a dramatic increase in spillover from battles in Syria, with eight mortar shells striking in the area over the last week, prompting several Israel Air Force retaliatory strikes on Assad regime artillery.
On Tuesday, tensions escalated after the Assad regime’s military fired two surface-toair missiles at Israeli jets that were conducting a retaliatory strike. The IDF said the jets were far from the threats, and dismissed Syrian claims of a direct hit on Israeli aircraft.
Air raid sirens will sound across the country (except near the Gaza Strip) at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday, simulating mass rocket attacks from multiple fronts, as part of a war drill being held from Sunday to Wednesday.
They will also sound in the Upper Galilee and the Golan at 11:05 a.m.; in the Haifa area, the Lower Galilee and Wadi Ara at 11:07; in the central region at 11:09; in the Jerusalem area, Beit Shemesh and the West Bank at 11:11; in communities near the Gaza Strip at 11:13; and in the South at 11:15.
There are no indications that a full-scale conflict of that kind is imminent. The Home Front Command has held annual war drills for several years, and its assessments are part of the IDF’s routine preparations for future threats.