Israeli forces say they have exchanged gunfire over the Israeli-Syrian border on the disputed Golan Heights.
The Israeli soldiers said they fired back after shots were fired at a military patrol on the border in the central Golan Heights, damaging an Israeli military vehicle.
However, Syria said Tuesday it destroyed an Israeli vehicle that crossed the cease-fire line, the Associated Press reported.
Israel is still technically at war with Syria, having seized 460 square miles of the strategic Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Israel later annexed the land, a move that has never been recognized by the international community.
However, the recent increase in the number of stray shells and bullets landing on the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan Height has been blamed on the fighting between rebels and the forces of Bashar al-Assad.
The Israeli Defense Force has lodged a complaint with the United Nations over the firing.
And the UN Disengagement Force responsible for patrolling that area said in a statement:
« The IDF views the recent incidents in the north with concern and has lodged a complaint with UNDOF. »
On Tuesday, Israeli forces returned fire at the source of the gunfire and reported a direct hit, DPA cited the Israeli the military as saying.
However, Naharnet quotedthe Syrian military as saying:
« Our armed forces have destroyed an Israeli vehicle with everything that it had in it… The vehicle had crossed the cease-fire line and was moving towards the village of Bir Ajam, situated in the liberated Syrian zone. »
This article originally was published at Global Post.