IDF: 3 rockets launched from Syria at Golan Heights, one lands in Israeli territory

Three rockets were launched from southern Syria at the Golan Heights on Saturday night, with one landing in Israeli territory, the military said.

The Israel Defense Forces said one of the rockets crossed the border and landed in an open area near the northern Israeli town of Meitsar. An incoming rocket alert was activated in an open area near the town shortly before, the IDF said.

The other two projectiles apparently fell short in Syria, with some reports suggesting one had landed in Jordan.

The Iron Dome air defense system was not used as the projectiles were headed for an unpopulated area, the IDF said.

The IDF did not immediately respond to the attack.

The attack came as tensions soared across the region, with a barrage of rockets from Lebanon on Thursday morning; tit-for-tat rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Israeli strikes; clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Temple Mount; deadly terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank; as well as a suspected Iranian drone launched from Syria earlier in the week.

Amid a multifront escalation of violence, 34 rockets were launched into Israel from Lebanon Thursday, with five landing inside Israel, four with unknown impact sites, and the rest downed by the Iron Dome. Two people were lightly injured by shrapnel. Later on Thursday, another two rockets were launched from Lebanon at Israel, causing no injuries or damage.

Israel blamed the Hamas terror group for the rocket fire, as well as volleys of rockets fired from Gaza. Its air force carried out strikes in both Gaza and Lebanon on Thursday night in retaliation.

The uptick in violence has come as tensions have spiked in recent days following Israeli police incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to quell rioting. On Friday, two sisters were killed and their mother was left fighting for her life in a shooting attack in the West Bank. Later that night, an Italian tourist was killed and seven others were hurt in a suspected car-ramming attack on a promenade in Tel Aviv.

The IDF was to bolster forces across the West Bank, as well as back up police forces in central Israel. IDF chief Herzi Halevi on Friday also ordered a call-up of an unspecified number of reservist soldiers.

In a statement following a security assessment, Halevi said the call-up was focused on air defense units and “air attack arrays,” meaning fighter jet pilots and attack drone operators, as well as other aircrews.