*BEIRUT/JERSUSALEM: *Israeli forces attacked Syrian military positions nearthe Golan Heights frontier in the early hours on Thursday, causing limiteddamage, Syrian state media said.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it hit three targets inretaliation for an incursion on Wednesday of a Syrian drone which was shotdown over northern Israel.

“The IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) holds the Syrian regime accountable forthe actions carried out in its territory and warns it from further actionagainst Israeli forces,” the Israeli statement said.

Israeli-issued black-and-white surveillance footage showed missiles hittingwhat appeared to be a hut, a two-storey structure and a five-storeystructure amid hilly terrain.

Syrian state media said the positions targeted on Thursday were near Hadervillage in Quneitra province, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

“The aircraft of the Israeli enemy fired several missiles in the directionof some army positions,” state media cited a Syrian military source assaying. At least some of the missiles were thwarted by Syrian air defenses,they said.

Israel has grown deeply alarmed by the expanding clout of its arch enemyIran during the seven-year war in Syria. Its air force has struck scores oftargets it describes as Iranian deployments or arms transfers to Lebanon’sIran-backed Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russia on Wednesday thatIsrael would not seek to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but thatMoscow, his key ally, should encourage Iranian forces to quit Syria, asenior Israeli official said.