Israel Says 3 Syrian Tanks Entered the Demilitarized Zone in the Golan Heights

JERUSALEM (TheBlaze/AP) -- Israel's military says three Syrian tanks have entered the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights.

A military spokeswoman says Israel complained to the U.N. peacekeeping force in the area after the tanks entered Saturday.

The spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military protocol, did not elaborate. The relatively low-key response suggested Israel did not see the armor as an immediate threat.

The Israeli news site Ynet said the tanks and two armored personnel carriers drove a few miles away from Israeli military positions. According to Ynet, the tanks entered the village of Bir-Ajam and engaged in battles against Syrian rebels:

Over the past 24 hours a number of mortar shells fired as part of the Syrian infighting landed in the demilitarized zone. One of them may have been the cause of a fire that erupted Saturday at Mount Hosek, located near the Israel-Syria border.

There are concerns in Israel that violence from Syria's civil war could spill over a long-quiet frontier. Misfired Syrian shells have exploded inside Israel on several occasions. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it.