Syrian State Media Say Israeli Artillery Shells Border Town

BEIRUT (AP) -- Syria's state media said Israel shelled targets in southern Syria early on Monday, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, causing unspecified material damage. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

The report on the state SANA news agency said Israeli forces targeted the town of Talat Qars al-Nafl in Quneitra province but did not mention any casualties. The pro-government Al-Watan newspaper posted a video of the attack, showing an explosion from what it said was one of the targets being hit in the distance.

A Britain-based war monitor, the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the shelling targeted militias linked to the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group in Quneitra. It said that Israel had struck targets in the same area last Tuesday.

Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment next door, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of neighboring Syria in recent years, but rarely acknowledges them.

Earlier this year, suspected Israeli strikes in Syria intensified, culminating in an exchange on the border on April 8, when the Israeli military said its forces attacked targets in Syria after six rockets were launched from southern Syria territory towards the Golan.