Demonstrators demand an end to Israeli military presence in border town in southern governorate.Israeli forces have shot and wounded a Syrian protester demonstrating against the army’s presence in a border village in southern Syria, the Israeli military says.
Israeli fire injured the man, identified by local media as Maher al-Hussein, in the leg on Friday as protesters gathered in the town of Maariyah to demand an end to the Israeli military presence in the area.
A local journalist told Al Jazeera that al-Hussein was transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.
Since opposition forces toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on December 8, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syria in what it said is a bid to prevent military equipment from falling into hostile hands.
In a move widely condemned internationally, Israel also sent troops into a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights and beyond, calling it a defensive and temporary measure.
“During a protest against [Israeli military] activities in the area of Maariya in southern Syria, [the Israeli army] called on protesters to distance themselves from the troops,” the military said. Advertisement
The village is just outside the southern point of the UN-patrolled zone.
“After the troops identified a threat, they operated in accordance with standard operating procedures against the threat. … The protester was shot in the leg,” the military said.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights …