Israeli army announces drone crash in Golan Heights, Iraqi faction takes responsibility

The Israeli army confirmed on Thursday the crash of a drone near a village in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, following the announcement of an Iraqi faction claiming responsibility for an attack in the region. 

Israeli media reported that an attack drone, believed to be equipped with explosives and launched from Syria, was shot down south of the Eliad settlement on Wednesday night, causing material damage without casualties. 

The Israeli army told Agence France-Presse that a drone crashed near Eliad, without providing additional details on the matter. 

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which includes factions loyal to Iran, announced in a statement targeting a “vital target” in the Golan “with appropriate weapons,” in solidarity with the people in Gaza. 

This group had previously announced targeting bases housing US forces and those of the anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq, since the outbreak of the war between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip on October 7. 

The war began following an unprecedented attack by the movement on southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to a count by Agence France-Presse based on the latest Israeli official figures.  

Additionally, about 250 hostages were taken during the attack, with 129 of them still held in Gaza, according to Israel. 

Israel has been carrying out intense shelling on the besieged sector and initiated ground operations starting from October 27, resulting in the deaths of 21,110 people, including more than eight thousand children and six thousand women, according to the latest figures from the Hamas government. 

The war has raised concerns about the escalation expanding into a regional conflict, especially with the exchange of shelling on the Israeli-Lebanese border between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, and the attacks carried out by the Houthis in Yemen on ships they claim are linked to Israel in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, as well as targeting bases with US and international forces in Iraq and Syria. 

Israel occupied parts of the Golan Heights in the June 1967 war and declared its annexation in 1981, a step not recognized by the United Nations. 

AFP