JERUSALEM (AP) – A civilian vehicle in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights was targeted by forces in neighboring Syria on Sunday, killing a 14-year-old boy in the first deadly incident along the volatile area since the Syrian civil war erupted more than three years ago. Israel retaliated with tank fire at Syrian government targets.
The Israeli military said two other people were wounded in Sunday’s incident.
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said it was “the most substantial incident” along the frontier with Syria since the beginning of the civil war. He said it was unclear whether the vehicle had been struck by a rocket, mortar shell or some other explosive device, but claimed the attack was clearly intentional.
“It was fired directly from east to west,” he said, adding that it was a “direct hit” on the vehicle.
The vehicle was driving along a fence that Israel has built along the Syrian frontier, Lerner said. He described the vehicle as a water tanker, and said people on board were doing work for Israel’s Defense Ministry at the time. “We have a hole in the fence, which indicates it could be a projectile,” Lerner said.