Israeli tanks strike Syrian structures in demilitarized zone, alleging 1974 ceasefire violation

Israeli tanks struck two structures on Thursday inside what the army said was a demilitarized zone in Syria, claiming the buildings violated a half-century-old cease-fire agreement between the two countries, the Israeli army said.

The structures, it said, were being used by the Syrian military, amounting to what the army called a “clear violation” of the 1974 cease-fire.

The Israeli army did not provide any information on what type of structures the two buildings were nor when they were built.

In Syria, the pro-government Sham FM radio station said Israel’s military struck an area on the edge of the Golan Heights in the village of Hadar. It said there were no casualties.

The 1974 agreement established a separation zone between Israeli and Syrian forces, stationing a U.N. peacekeeping force there to maintain calm.

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The agreement is credited with officially ending the 1973 Mideast war, when a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria launched an attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Israel this month is marking the 50th anniversary of the war.

Israel and Syria are bitter enemies, though the cease-fire has largely held for the past five decades. The Israeli military, however, often strikes what it says are Iranian-linked targets in Syria.

Also on Thursday, Syrian media reported that Israeli drones targeted two people riding a motorcycle in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the Israeli strike killed two members of Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group backed by Iran, near the village of Beit Jin in southern Syria.

Islamic Jihad official Ismail Abu-Mujahed denied that any of their operatives were killed in southern Syria.

The Israeli army declined to comment on the reports.