The Israeli army said on Saturday that its troops were assisting UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights in suppressing attacks by “armed people”, while the foreign minister said that “armed troops” had entered the UN-monitored area.
There was no immediate comment from the UN forces.
“Recently, an attack was carried out by armed individuals on the UN base in Hader area in Syria,” the army said in a statement, referring to the Syrian town on the edge of the buffer zone.
“Right now (Israeli forces) are helping the UN forces to evacuate.”
Late Saturday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X: “In the last day, the army entered the defensive area on the Syrian side of the border with Israel. Among other things, attacks were made (peacekeepers) in the area”.
He said Israel was “concerned about violations” of the 1974 armistice with Syria. “Israel does not intervene in the internal conflict in Syria,” he added.
Earlier on Saturday, Syrian rebels took control of the capital Quneitra, 12 kilometers (eight miles) south of Hader, the Britain-based war monitoring Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Syria’s protracted civil war began late last month, with rebels sweeping across the country and capturing many major cities.
The army said that army chief Herzi Halevi visited the Syrian border on Saturday. He also confirmed that Israel was not interfering in Syria.
He said that “the main focus of Israel is to monitor the movements and interests of Iran” while “the second” was on the Syrian groups and “to ensure that they do not focus their actions on us”.
The military declined to comment on Saturday night when asked if the attack was ongoing.
On Friday, the Israeli army said it was “strengthening air and ground forces” in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in response to the Syrian situation. And on Saturday it said it had done exercises so that the troops would be ready.
Israel conquered most of the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War of 1967 and subsequently occupied the area in a move that was previously unknown to the international community.
The United Nations peacekeeping force, UNDOF, has surrounded the territory controlled by Israel and Syria since 1974.
In August 2014, Islamist rebels attacked UNDOF and captured more than 40 Fijian peacekeepers, holding them hostage for nearly two weeks.
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