Israeli air strikes on Wednesday against Syrian military sites near the Golan Heights killed one person and wounded seven others, Syria's armed forces said, warning that the attacks endangered stability in the region.
An armed forces statement said the strikes targeted three sites near the town of Qunaitra
It is periodically necessary for Israel to take "aggressive action" so that the quiet in the north will be maintained, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Wednesday just hours after the IAF hit targets in Syria in response to Tuesday's attack on an IDF jeep on the Golan Heights.
Netanyahu, speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting that was postponed from Sunday because of Purim, said that the targets hit belonged to Syrian elements who not only allowed the attack to take place, but assisted in it.
"Our policy is very clear," he said. "We strike those who strike us."
Netanyahu also said that Israel, to the best of its ability, consistently thwarts the transfer of weapons.
Amos Yadlin, a former chief of Israeli military intelligence, said there was "no desire for escalation" on Israel's part, noting the air force was capable of carrying out attacks far more dramatic than Wednesday's pre-dawn strikes.
The Israeli military said targets of the latest air strikes had included a Syrian military headquarters, a training facility and artillery batteries on the Syrian-held side of the Golan.
Occasional spillover violence on the Golan from the Syrian civil war has often drawn Israeli return fire against Syrian positions, ending what had previously been a stable ceasefire between the foes since the 1973 Middle East war.
"There is no spillover here," Yadlin told Army Radio, referring to the roadside bombing.
"When the other side changes the rules of the game, Israel has to make clear it carries a very high price. I think Assad understands the price," said Yadlin, who heads Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies.