Israel in new attack on Syria following 'stray fire'

The Israeli air force struck a target in Syria on Monday in response to what Israel claimed was stray fire from its war-wracked neighbour that hit the occupied Golan Heights, an army statement said.

The army said a mortar round hit an uninhabited area near a security barrier along the demarcation line in the centre of the strategic plateau.

"Initial reports suggest that... fire from the internal fighting in Syria hit an open area near the security fence in the central Golan Heights. No injuries have been reported," the statement said.

The air force "successfully targeted the source of the fire in Syria", it said, warning that it holds the Damascus government responsible for any fire that "hits Israel."

The Syrian army later said two missiles from Israeli reconnaissance planes hit a residential building in Baath City in the Syrian Golan Heights near the border with Israel.

The army statement, carried on state news agency SANA, said the strikes on the city, held by government forces, caused "material damage" and said they were aimed at "raising the morale of terrorist groups it (Israel) supported" after losses inflicted by the Syrian army.

On July 4, the Israeli army said it had attacked two Syrian targets on the Golan after stray fire damaged the security fence.

And on July 17, Israeli said its military fired two Patriot missiles at a drone that infiltrated from Syria.

Israel has sought to avoid being drawn into Syria's complex war which is now in its sixth year, but it has attacked Syrian military targets when fire from the conflict spills over.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.