Country ‘targets Syrian government positions’ amid increased tension in region

ISRAELI airstrikes have today targeted Syrian government positions after a rocket was intercepted over the country, reports say.

The airstrikes have reportedly targeted positions around Quneitra, near the Israeli occupied Golan Heights.

It comes on the same day Israel's Iron Dome rocket defense system shot down two stray "projectiles" fired during fighting in Syria's civil war.

There has been frequent spillover of fighting between the factions in Syria into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, but this was the first time Iron Dome was activated to intercept the errant fire.

The Israeli military said: "An additional projectile fired from Syria was intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system. No injuries reported."

Israel usually retaliates with air strikes against battle stations in Syria.

The military has stationed Iron Dome batteries in areas that have been targeted by cross-border fire, which is most frequently from Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. The system usually only fires an interceptor if the enemy rocket is calculated to strike near a populated area.

Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines of Syria's civil war, keeping watch over the Golan frontier and occasionally carrying out air strikes or returning mortar fire if there is a specific threat.

Israel captured the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau, in a 1967 Middle East war.

The increased tension comes after a fragile new Syrian ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States came into force on Monday.