The two letters emphasized that the Israeli action was a flagrant breach of the ceasefire accords.

The airstrikes, against a Syrian Army training facility, a military headquarters and artillery batteries, were the first in Syrian territory that Israel has openly acknowledged since the Syrian foreign-hatched conflict began three years ago.

A bombing on Tuesday that prompted the strikes was the first to cause Israeli casualties, wounding four soldiers, one severely. Both events raised the stakes along a frontier that has been largely quiet for 40 years.

The Syrian armed forces said in a statement quoted by the official Syrian news agency, SANA, that the airstrikes killed one person and wounded seven. The statement described the Israeli attacks as a breach of the separation-of-forces agreement that has been in place since the cease-fire that was reached after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. It left a portion of the strategic Syrian plateau under Israeli control.

The statement added that the Syrian leadership viewed Israel’s “new aggression” as an attempt to divert attention from the recent victories of the Syrian Army, particularly in retaking the town of Yabrud. It warned that Israel’s actions endangered stability in the border area and could open up “all possibilities.”

NTJ/NJF