Seven Syrians hurt in battles between Syrian army and rebels were treated in a hospital in Israel, an Israel Defence Force (IDF) spokesperson said Saturday.
They had made their own way across the demilitarized zone to the border fence. An Israeli patrol detected them and quickly noticed they were wounded and seeking help. Army medics were called to the scene and administered initial care.
Israeli "soldiers provided medical care to seven injured Syrians adjacent to the security fence" on the Golan Heights, the spokesperson said.
"The wounded were transferred to a hospital in Israel for further medical treatment."
The Ziv Medical Center in Safed, where they were treated, said that one of the wounded arrived in critical condition. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and is scheduled to undergo another surgery in the next 48 hours.
Four of the seven are in moderate condition, he added, and two are set to undergo surgery.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, rebels on Saturday overran a military police checkpoint at the Golan Heights town of Khan Arnabeh just beyond the outer ceasefire line along the demilitarised zone bordering Israel.
Syrian regime forces responded by shelling Khan Arnabeh and the nearby village of Jubata al-Khashab, inside the ceasefire zone.
The Israeli army stressed that the incident should not be regarded a precedent. It was "an isolated event that does not signal any change in policy," a military source said.
The policy is not to allow any breach of the fence, "with the exception of special humanitarian cases," he added.