Israel's military fired into Syria on Monday for the second time in as many days in response to a shell that struck the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, an Israeli military spokesman said.
The spokesman said the army "fired at the source of the fire in Syria". The Syrian shell landed in an open area without causing any damage or injuries and it was not immediately clear if any one was hit by the Israeli response.
"Israeli tank scored direct hits in retaliation for Syrian mortar shell on Golan," the military source added.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a meeting in Prague on Monday that NATO will defend alliance member Turkey, which struck back after mortar rounds fired from Syria landed inside its border.
"NATO as an organization will do what it takes to protect and defend Turkey, our ally. We have all plans in place to make sure that we can protect and defend Turkey and hopefully that way also deter so that attacks on Turkey will not take place," he said.
Rasmussen also welcomed a weekend agreement by Syrian opposition groups to put aside differences and form a new coalition.
The Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) said on Monday it will recognize Syria's newly formed opposition
coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
Syrian opposition groups struck a deal in
Doha on Sunday to form a broad coalition to overthrow President Bashar
al-Assad.
"The GCC declares its recognition of
the Syrian national coalition ... as the legitimate representative of the
brotherly Syrian people," Abdulatif al-Zayani, the GCC's secretary
general, said in a statement.
Arab League Ministerial Council had convened in Cairo at the level of Foreign Ministers, with talks on
Syria topping the agenda.
A group comprised of Qatar, Egypt,
Algeria, Sudan and Oman will be designated to follow up on the Syrian file.
Positions:
Washington has declared its support for the Syrian
opposition following the agreements reached in Doha.
On the other hand, Russia said a new Syrian opposition coalition, formed at the weekend to oust President Bashar al-Assad, should seek an end to the Syrian crisis through negotiation and reject outside interference.
The Foreign Ministry said Russia's "main criterion ... remains the readiness of such alliances to act on the platform of a peaceful resolution of the conflict by Syrians themselves, without external interference, through dialogue and negotiations."
Syrian anti-government groups struck a deal Sunday under intense international pressure to form a new opposition leadership that will include representatives from the country's disparate factions fighting to topple President Bashar Assad's regime, activists said.
The opposition has been deeply divided for months despite the relentless bloodshed in Syria and repeated calls from their Western and Arab supporters to create a cohesive and representative leadership that could present a single conduit for foreign aid. The agreement, reached Sunday after more than a week of meetings in the Qatari capital of Doha, could boost efforts to secure international support and potentially weapons that will be crucial in the war to oust Assad.
Later Sunday, the delegates elected Islamic preacher Maath al-Khatib president of the new coalition. Leading opposition figures Riad Seif and Suheir Atassi were elected vice presidents.
Mustafa Sabbagh was voted the coalition's secretary-general. In a bid to be more representative and curb the influence of exiles considered out of touch with events on the ground, the new coalition will include activists from inside Syria as well as rebel commanders.
On the other hand the Secretary General of the United
Nations Ban Ki-Moon called on both Syria and Israel to exert utmost restraint
on the borders and to respect the 1974 agreement.
Israel was drawn into the fighting in neighboring Syria for the first time Sunday, firing warning shots across the border after an errant mortar shell landed near an Israeli military installation in the Golan Heights.
While Israel appeared eager to calm the situation, its response was a potent reminder of how easily the Syrian civil war already spilling across borders with Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan could explode into a wider regional conflagration.
Israeli officials threatened even tougher retaliation if attacks persist.
On the Field:
A Syrian fighter jet bombed the town of Ras al-Ain on Monday metres from
the Turkish frontier, as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad
tried to wrest control of the area back from rebels, a Reuters witness
said.
The bombing sent up huge plumes of black smoke and scores of Syrians ran
from the area, scrambling to cross the border fence into Turkey.
The British based Syrian Observatory
for Human rights said that regime forces continued their attacks against
Damascus and surrounding areas as heavy clashes between opposition forces and
the Syrian army continued.
Syrian forces shelled south
of the capital Damascus, specifically in the Tadamon neighborhood and Basateen
al-Bayadi region. Sources said that several died or were left injured as a
result of the violemce.
AP/REUTERS/LBCI