The Syrian army’s response to the May 21 Israeli violation of the cease-fire line on the Golan represents its first direct retaliation against Israel since the late 1980s.
The Syrian General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces announced in a statement that same day, “[O]ur armed forces destroyed an Israeli vehicle that entered from the occupied territories and crossed the cease-fire line towards the village of Bir Ajam. The village is located in the liberated area of Syrian territories where there are armed terrorist groups.” It also stated, “Following that, the Israeli enemy fired two rockets from the occupied site of Tal al-Faras toward one of our sites in al-Zubaydiah village; no casualties [were] reported.”
For its part, Israel acknowledged that Syrian gunfire had hit one of its patrols, damaging a vehicle and prompting its troops to fire back.
The Syrian military response appears to have been made without awaiting instructions from the political leadership, as per the orders issued by Damascus following the May 5 Israeli air strikes on Damascus. Regardless, how should one interpret Syria’s handling of this incident? Is it a message to Israel that the government of President Bashar al-Assad will no longer tolerate Israeli aggression? Does the seriousness of Syria’s assertions that it will indeed respond to all future attacks represent a new policy toward Israel and abandonment of the classic Syrian dictum of responding “at the right place and time”?
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