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| Israel Says Its Tanks Responded to Shots Fired From Syrian Side | Israel Says Its Tanks Responded to Shots Fired From Syrian Side |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Tuesday night that its tanks had fired into Syria in response to shots fired from the Syrian side at an Israeli Army jeep in the Israeli-held Golan Heights, adding that the shells hit their target. Earlier that day, the Israeli military said, a mortar shell from Syria sailed over the Israeli-Syrian cease-fire line and crashed into an open field. | JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Tuesday night that its tanks had fired into Syria in response to shots fired from the Syrian side at an Israeli Army jeep in the Israeli-held Golan Heights, adding that the shells hit their target. Earlier that day, the Israeli military said, a mortar shell from Syria sailed over the Israeli-Syrian cease-fire line and crashed into an open field. |
| There were no injuries on the Israeli side, but Tuesday’s tank fire represented the second time in 10 days that Israel had responded to fire from Syria, a sign of increasing spillover from Syria’s bloody civil war. On March 24, the Israeli military said it destroyed a Syrian machine gun post after two Israeli patrols came under fire from across the decades-old cease-fire line, which is monitored by the United Nations. | |
| Israel’s defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, toured the Golan Heights frontier on Tuesday morning, where he was briefed by the chief of staff and regional commanders. | Israel’s defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, toured the Golan Heights frontier on Tuesday morning, where he was briefed by the chief of staff and regional commanders. |
| Mr. Yaalon said that Israel would not intervene in the Syrian civil war as long as its own interests were not being harmed, but that it would strike back at the source of any attack on its territory, whether intentional or the result of stray fire. It is unclear whether Tuesday’s attack was intentional. | Mr. Yaalon said that Israel would not intervene in the Syrian civil war as long as its own interests were not being harmed, but that it would strike back at the source of any attack on its territory, whether intentional or the result of stray fire. It is unclear whether Tuesday’s attack was intentional. |
| In Geneva, the United Nations World Food Program said Tuesday that rising violence in Syria was making it increasingly difficult to deliver food to millions of people as trucks carrying relief supplies were increasingly caught in the cross-fire between warring factions. | |
| The World Food Program reported that it delivered food to close to two million people in all 14 of Syria’s governorates in March, around one-third of them in areas controlled by the opposition, and said that it wanted to expand its aid to reach 2.5 million people this month. | The World Food Program reported that it delivered food to close to two million people in all 14 of Syria’s governorates in March, around one-third of them in areas controlled by the opposition, and said that it wanted to expand its aid to reach 2.5 million people this month. |
| But “it’s becoming more and more difficult with this growing violence to reach those people who badly need assistance,” an agency spokeswoman, Elisabeth Byrs, told reporters in Geneva. | But “it’s becoming more and more difficult with this growing violence to reach those people who badly need assistance,” an agency spokeswoman, Elisabeth Byrs, told reporters in Geneva. |
| Trucks carrying food supplies are being forced to turn back at checkpoints or when confronted by fighting, and in some instances are being hijacked by armed groups, Ms. Byrs said. Three trucks with enough food for 17,000 people were hijacked last month, she said, and although the vehicles and their drivers were eventually released, the food they carried was never recovered. | Trucks carrying food supplies are being forced to turn back at checkpoints or when confronted by fighting, and in some instances are being hijacked by armed groups, Ms. Byrs said. Three trucks with enough food for 17,000 people were hijacked last month, she said, and although the vehicles and their drivers were eventually released, the food they carried was never recovered. |
| Last month, a mortar shell landed on a World Food Program warehouse in Adraa, a suburb of Damascus, the Syrian capital, heavily damaging the food stored there, Ms. Byrs said. | Last month, a mortar shell landed on a World Food Program warehouse in Adraa, a suburb of Damascus, the Syrian capital, heavily damaging the food stored there, Ms. Byrs said. |
| Since the World Food Program started its operation in Syria 16 months ago, its warehouses and vehicles have been attacked 20 times, the agency said. | Since the World Food Program started its operation in Syria 16 months ago, its warehouses and vehicles have been attacked 20 times, the agency said. |
| Plans to expand its operations are also constrained by a lack of staff members. Eight of the agency’s international employees in Damascus were among the United Nations workers evacuated last week after mortar shells landed near their hotel, damaging a vehicle; that left 18 international and 80 national staff members in the country. | Plans to expand its operations are also constrained by a lack of staff members. Eight of the agency’s international employees in Damascus were among the United Nations workers evacuated last week after mortar shells landed near their hotel, damaging a vehicle; that left 18 international and 80 national staff members in the country. |
Isabel Kershner reported from Jerusalem, and Nick Cumming-Bruce from Geneva. | Isabel Kershner reported from Jerusalem, and Nick Cumming-Bruce from Geneva. |