Israeli Airstrike Claimed as Explosions Rock Syrian Golan

Hezbollah Says al-Qaeda, Not Israel, Behind Attack

A pair of explosions tore through the area around Quneitra, in the southern part of Syria’s Golan Heights, with a pair of rebel sources claiming that they were a result of an Israeli airstrike on a Syrian Army post in the area.

Israel, as usual, refused to either confirm or deny any involvement in the explosions, though the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not an army post, but a government building that was attacked. They insisted they had no knowledge on casualties.

Hezbollah, however, offered a totally different story, saying Israel was not involved, and the explosions were the result of a pair of rockets fired at Baath City by al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front. They said that civilians were killed in the incidents.

Israel is officially “neutral” in the Syrian Civil War, though it has regularly attacked Syrian military and Hezbollah targets throughout the war, and officials have openly said they prefer ISIS winning the war rather than Syria’s existing Shi’ite government, citing that government’s alliance with Iran.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.