NewObserver, “Israeli Air Force Bombs Anti-ISIS Forces in Syria”, 23 Apr 2017:

The Israeli Air Force has carried out two bombing raids against anti-ISIS army forces in the west of Syria as part of the [Israeli imperialist state’s] long-running campaign to disrupt the Syrian government’s military campaign against the terrorist army.

According to a report by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), a military source announced that the “Israeli enemy’s warplanes fired two missiles at 18:45 from within occupied territory at a military position in the surroundings of Khan Arnabeh in Quneitra countryside, causing material damage.”

The “occupied territory” being referred to is the Golan Heights, which Israel seized in 1967, and annexed against all international law.

The SANA report said that the Israeli “aggression came after an attempt by terrorists to infiltrate military positions in Quneitra countryside was foiled and the terrorists suffered heavy losses.”

This, SANA said, “proves that Israel provides direct support to terrorist organizations,” adding that their source “affirmed that such desperate attempts will not dissuade the Army and Armed Forces from continuing to crush the terrorist groups that act as Israel’s proxy in the area.”

A follow-up report in Al Jazeera revealed that Sunday’s attacks targeted fighters loyal to the Syrian government in the Naba al-Fawwar area of Quneitra province, which is located in the 30 percent of the Golan Heights that is not under Israeli occupation.

Three fighters from the pro-government National Defence Forces (NDF) were killed and at least two more were wounded in the attack, an NDF official said.

The terrorist armies fighting Syria’s Bashar al-Assad government and its allies control much of the Quneitra area.

Unusually, the Israeli Army confirmed that it had targeted positions inside Syria in retaliation for mortar fire that hit the northern part of the occupied Golan Heights.

“The Israeli army targeted the source of the fire,” an army statement said without giving further details.

In reality, the terrorist groups operating in the area against the Syrian government often operate close to Israeli lines—because Israel treats their wounded in hospitals inside the Jewish state, and it is therefore inevitable that the Israeli side will be hit occasionally by stray rounds.

The Israelis however always take these stray rounds as an excuse to bomb Syrian government positions.

The Jerusalem Post even admitted as much, saying that the Israeli attack was due to “errant rocket fire” caused by “fighting between Hezbollah and regime troops against rebel groups near Ain Ayshaa, Samadiniyah Sharqiyah & Madinat al-Baath near Quneitra.”

The other excuse which the Jewish [imperialist] state uses to attack the anti-ISIS forces in Syria is that they are “carrying weapons to Lebanon” to fight Israel—as if Syria could at this stage spare such military effort.

The Lebanese Hezbollah organization—most famous for defeating the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon—is one of the Syrian government’s key military allies, providing tens of thousands of troops on the ground in the fight against ISIS.