Israel accuses Iran of missile attack

The Israeli military accused Iranian forces of firing about 20 rockets against its defensive lines in the occupied Golan Heights on Thursday and said that it has "responded to the attack".

"At approximately 10 minutes past midnight, forces belonging to the Iranian Quds fired approximately 20 projectiles, most of them are probably rockets but that is yet to be determined, towards the forward line of (Israeli) positions in the Golan Heights. We have responded to the attack," Efe news agency quoted army spokesman Jonathan Conricus as saying.

"Quds" is the Arabic word for Jerusalem.

"So far we are not aware of any IDF casualties," the spokesman said, adding that "two of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome" anti-missile system, and "we estimate the amount of damage to be low".

The targets of the rockets were evidently military posts and no civilians were injured or forced to flee.

At present, authorities have not changed the alert instructions for residents of the Golan Heights, a portion of Syria that Israel occupied during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed in a decision not recognised by the international community.

The military said, "remain attentive to instructions from the Interior Command".

"The IDF views this Iranian attack very severely," Conricus said. "This event is not over."

The incident took place one day after the Israeli army declared an alert in the northern part of the country after detecting "irregular activity by Iranian forces in Syria".

--IANS

and/ksk