Israeli involvement in the Syrian Civil War

Since the Syrian Civil War began in 2011 between President Bashar al-Assad's government and thousands of demonstrators, Israel has played a role in the military conflict in relation to its shared ceasefire line in Syria, Hezbollah's activities, and in various bombing campaigns. Israel's response has been to neither confirm nor deny its military activity within the borders of Syria.

Israel is providing medical treatment for rebels in Syria.

July 2013 Latakia Airstrike
According to anonymous U.S. officials, Israel launched July 2013 Latakia airstrike. It targeted Russian-made Yakhont anti-ship missiles near the city of Latakia, and killed several Syrian troops.

October 2013 Latakia Airstrike
Israel is believed to have carried out another raid on October 30, 2013. The attack happened at an air defense site in Snawbar, 10 miles south of Latakia.

January 2014 Latakia Airstrike
Syrian opposition sources, as well as Lebanese sources, reported that another strike happened in Latakia on January 26, 2014. The target was allegedly S-300 missiles. It was reported that Israeli aircraft carried out two airstrikes against Hezbollah facilities in Lebanon near the border with Syria on February 24, 2014, killing several militants. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed the attack targeted a Hezbollah missile base.

January 2013 Rif Dimashq airstrike
This event was an aerial attack in Rif Dimashq Governorate of Syria, made on a convoy, that was believed to be carrying advanced anti-aircraft weaponry from Syria to the Lebanese Shi'a militia Hezbollah. The convoy was attacked on January 31, 2013. According to several media sources, Israeli forces allegedly conducted the strike, however Israel hasn't officially responded to the allegations. The convoy was attacked while parked at a facility of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, Syria's main research center on biological and chemical weapons, at Jamraya, several miles northwest of the Syrian capital of Damascus. In addition to Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, secondary explosions from the attacked munitions also damaged a building of the Scientific Studies and Research Center. Satellite images taken a few days after the attack showed a scorched and blackened parking lot at the center, where the arms convoy was apparently hit. Israel did not officially confirm responsibility for the bombing, but Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak suggested that it could have been behind the attack, saying on 3 February, "I cannot add anything to what you've read in the newspapers about what happened in Syria several days ago, but I keep telling, frankly, that we've said – and that's another proof that when we say something we mean it – we say that we don't think that it should be allowable to bring advanced weapon systems into Lebanon."

May 2013 Rif Dimashq airstrikes
The May 2013 airstrikes were a series of aerial attacks made on targets in Syria on 3 and 5 May 2013. The 3 May attack was on targets at Damascus International Airport. The 5 May attacks were on targets at Jamraya, and the Al-Dimas and Maysalun areas in Rif Dimashq (Damascus Countryside). Although officially Israel neither confirmed nor denied its involvement, former Mossad director Danny Yatom and former government member Tzachi Hanegbi assumed Israel's role behind the attack. Syrian official sources denied any attack on its soil on May 3, but did accuse Israel over May 5 events.

December 2014 Rif Dimashq airstrikes
In December 2014, Haaretz reported that a series of Israeli airstrikes struck Damascus. The actions involved were a series of aerial attacks made on targets in Syria on 7 December 2014. The targets were a military area of Al-Dimas and the Damascus International Airport area. According to the SOHR, the attack near the Damascus International Airport targeted a depot for newly arrived weapons at a military facility that is part of the airport. The attack at Al-Dimas targeted weapons depots in hangars around a small air base. Ten explosions were heard at Al-Dimas and the Syrian Army stated that some installations were damaged. According to the SOHR, three Hezbollah members were killed by the strikes in Al-Dimas. Syria claimed that an UAV was shot down.

Response to Hezbollah
On 18 January 2015, Israeli helicopters attacked a Hezbollah's convoy in the Syrian controlled part of Golan Heights, killing six prominent members of Hezbollah and six IRGC members, including Brig. Gen. Muhammad Ali Allahdadi.

Then, on 27 January, two projectiles fired from Syria landed in the Golan Heights without causing injuries or damage. The IDF returned artillery fire toward the source of the projectiles, saying it scored a direct strike against the source of enemy fire. the following day, Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli military convoy in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa farms near the Lebanon border, killing two soldiers and wounding seven. In response, Israel fired at least 50 artillery shells across the border into southern Lebanon, in which a Spanish UN peacekeeper was killed.

Medical assistance
Israel is providing medical treatment for rebels in Syria. They also allowed some fighters to cross the ceasefire line in Golan Heights to seek medical treatment on the Israeli-occupied side.

Syrian ambassador to the UN, Bashar al-Ja'afari, also accused Israel of helping Jabhat al-Nusra directly in the Golan Heights area.

Hezbullah and Iranian transhipments of sophisticated weapons from Iran across western Syria have been sporadically attacked by Israeli helicopters, and this has led to an escalation of the conflict in early 2015.

Israeli-Syrian ceasefire line and neutral zone
There have been clashes with Israeli soldiers on the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights, leading the UN Security Council to express "grave concern at all violations of the Disengagement of Forces Agreement." and generating fears of a Hezbollah invasion of Israel from there. In late 2012, ceasefire line tensions between Israel and Syria escalated. On 25 September 2012, several mortar shells landed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, landing in an open area adjacent to the ceasefire line fence. Overall, throughout October and early November, several Syrian mortar and light artillery shells hit the Golan Heights. One mortar round may have been responsible for a brushfire that erupted in the area. On 3 November, three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized zone in the central Golan Heights as a number of mortar shells were fired into the area. On 5 November, an Israeli army jeep was damaged by Syrian army gunfire as it patrolled the ceasefire line. On 11 November, after a Syrian 120mm mortar round hit the eastern Golan Heights, the Israeli army responded by firing an electro-optic anti-tank missile in the direction of a Syrian mortar crew, but they deliberately missed them, intending it as a warning shot. On 12 November, another Syrian mortar shell struck the Golan Heights, and Israeli tanks deployed along the ceasefire line responded by targeting two Syrian mortar launchers. A direct hit was confirmed.

On March 2014, an Israeli patrol jeep landed on an explosive cargo near Majdal Shams during a daily patrol. In response, the IDF fired 155mm artillery shells on a Syrian outpost, and later that day, the Israeli air force bombed more Syrian settlements. This had happened a few days after another similar clash near the border of Lebanon that had also been responded in artillery and tanks fire by Israel. Israel blamed Hezbollah for both incidents.

On Sunday, July 14, 2013, a shell fired from Syria, where insurgents and government troops are locked in fierce fighting, exploded in the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights plateau.

In late August, Islamic militants began shelling the Golan Heights from Syria, and fierce fighting along the Syrian/Golan front resulted in gunfire and rockets piercing the de facto border, sparking Israeli involvement. The UN-only ceasefire line crossing was captured by Islamist troops, injuring two Israeli officers with mislead shootings. In the aftermath, UN troops fled their posts and crossed into Israeli-occupied territory. On September 23, 2014, an errant Syrian Air Force jet strayed over the Golan Heights, and was shot down by Israeli forces, the first time this has happened since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.