Spillover from some of the most intense fighting of the war in Syria is finding its way across the border into Israel, with loud explosions heard and a mortar falling this morning (Monday, September 1) in the Golan Heights. As Syrian government forces continue to battle with insurgents over control of the Kuneitra border crossing, UN forces evacuated the area under fire on Saturday, leaving Israel to secure the border by itself.

The fighting today centered around the town of Hamidiyeh, north of Kuneitra, where Al-Nusra rebel troops aligned with Al Qaida have taken control over the border crossing. A Syrian news outlet loyal to Assad claims that government forces are preparing to recapture the crossing, while the IDF said that last week’s mortar fire that wounded two Israelis most likely spilled over from the fighting in that area.

In response to the heightened security risk, at 9:00 am the IDF issued instructions to farmers in the area to keep away from the border fence. The apple harvest is currently underway in the Golan Heights, with a number of trees adjacent to the fence.

By Monday afternoon reports came in of heavy casualties in the Kuneitra area, including a claim by opposition fighters that they killed a senior commander in Assad’s army. Government forces, meanwhile, claimed that they killed a number of rebel troops.

Yesterday the IDF shot down a drone from Syria that crossed into Israeli airspace near Kuneitra, and 44 Fijian soldiers remain captive after being seized by the rebels.

At around 9pm Saturday night, 2 mortars landed close to the Israel-Syrian border/cease-fire lines in the Eastern Golan Heights.

No injuries or damage reported.

Fire from Syria landed again in Israel this evening, this time wounding an Israeli civilian inside a Golan Heights community.

The injured man is a 52 year old Kosher supervisor at a wine factory on the Golan. He was lightly injured by the strike.

The man was evacuated to a hospital.

It was initially believed that the strike was from a mortar, but now there is serious suspicion that it came from a Syrian tank, which would mean the attack was deliberate.

There are unconfirmed reports that 3 additional mortars landed in open areas, also near a Golan Height community.

Assad and Rebel forces are fighting near Quneitra, and the IDF said the rocket fire this morning was spillover.

Analysts are questioning if it really was spillover, or instead deliberate.

Hezbollah is currently fighting in Syria, together with Assad’s forces.

One man was wounded saving children’s lives Thursday morning in a rocket barrage fired from Gaza at Israeli communities along the southern border.

The victim did not quite make it into a bomb shelter at a local kindergarten that was hit by a Qassam rocket — he spent the time making sure all the children got into the safe space instead. He sustained shrapnel wounds and was evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva, where he is listed in fair condition.

A home was also directly hit by a Qassam rocket in the Eshkol Regional Council district. No one was in the house at the time of the attack. The structure sustained moderate damage; bomb squad sappers raced to the scene.

A barrage of six Qassam rockets was directed at the region, in addition to a dozen mortar shells that were aimed at the district. A barn filled with cows was hit as well, regional police said in a post on the Twitter social networking site. Several cows were killed in the attack.

It is not clear whether the Code Red incoming rocket alert system was functioning properly in all areas of the district.

The attack came just 25 minutes after a Qassam rocket landed in the same area. On Wednesday, dozens of rockets were fired at the Eshkol Regional Council district.

Six Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists, meanwhile, were struck by the Israel Air Force as they were in the final preparations to launch a rocket attack, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. “A hit was confirmed,” a spokesperson said.

By 11 am Thursday morning, Hamas had fired 243 rockets at Israeli civilians since violating the cease-fire with a barrage of rocket fire on Tuesday afternoon. Of those,184 reached Israeli territory and 37 were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, indicating the missiles were headed for densely populated areas in Israel. Another 16 never made it past the Gaza security fence, striking Palestinian Arab civilians instead.

The U.S. Congress has been there for Israel right from the start, but perhaps that signature on the Iron Dome funding last Friday was inked after President Barack Obama had his arm twisted a little. It’s impossible to know.

Obama told reporters at the White House on Friday that he understood Israel’s need to defend itself; and literally the day after, Hamas terrorists fired 11 shells at Israel from a mortar positioned right next to another UNRWA boys’ elementary school, this one in the Zeitoun section of Gaza City.

Nevertheless, Obama’s representative to the United Nations on Sunday conveyed an entirely different message to the rest of the world.

In a statement regarding Israeli gunfire aimed at Hamas terrorists next to an UNRWA school in southern Gaza, the U.S. Mission to the UN completely betrayed its ally.

The IAF air strike referred to in the current U.S. complaint came in response to mortar fire aimed by Hamas terrorists standing around the gate of an UNRWA boys’ elementary school in the border town of Rafah – who then fled on a motorcycle, taking care to drive as close as possible to civilians along the wall of the school.

The missile fired by the Israeli pilot targeting the terrorists – who were firing at Israeli soldiers on the ground at the time – didn’t miss. It hit the terrorists. But the large explosion predictably also killed the civilians who were standing nearby – precisely as Hamas planned and hoped, creating another gory photo op for the anti-Semitic world to feed on. And feed they did, egged on by the United Nations itself, and sadly, even by Israel’s ally.

Here’s the statement submitted from the U.S.:

“Today’s strike outside an UNRWA school in Rafah, where an estimated 3,000 people were taking shelter, is horrifying. This incident, which took the lives of at least ten Palestinians, including one UNRWA staff member, and injured many more, is only the latest in a conflict that has left dead approximately 1,750 people, including 11 UN staff, and injured many thousands more. Additionally, the UN estimates as many as 475,000 people have been displaced by the violence, of whom more than 259,000 are sheltering in 90 UNRWA schools, which are not equipped as shelters. It is imperative that all sides work towards a ceasefire that ends the rocket attacks and tunnel threat from Hamas, and the perilous situation faced by civilians in Gaza.

“We call on all parties to take all feasible precautions to prevent civilian casualties, comply with international humanitarian law and respect UN facilities in Gaza. We further call on Israel to conduct a full and prompt investigation of this incident as well as the recent strikes that hit other UNRWA schools. Civilians, many of whom have been told to evacuate their homes by the Israel Defense Forces, must be able to find refuge in safe, UN-designated shelters.”

Sound like an ally? Hamas is officially recognized as an international terrorist organization on the U.S. State Department’s own list of terror entities – but one would never know that from reading this statement, which makes it seem as though Hamas is the wronged party, and a legitimate entity to boot.

What’s wrong with the Obama administration?

3:00pm More IDF news — in the early afternoon, Givati and Tank troops were working to uncover terror tunnels and identified a number of terrorists emerging from a tunnel. The tanks opened fire with tank shells, and the terrorists ran to a nearby house. More shells were fired at the house, killing 3 terrorists. The IDF then blew up the terror tunnel.

2:51pm A short while ago, IDF Tzanchanim (Paratroopers) identified 4 terrorists in a house, preparing to shoot an anti-tank weapon. They coordinated with an IDF tank unit in the area which opened fire with tank shells on the house. The entire house collapsed and the terrorists were killed.

Additionally, a Givati unit located 150 mortars and an additional terror tunnel.

1:23pm From the IDF SPOX:

Givati combat troop and IDF tanks were shot at from a house in Gaza. The IDF returned fire. A terrorist was identified firing and then leaving the house and was picked up by a car for him to escape. The car was locked on by the IAF who fired at it….a direct hit on the car was verified.

Eight Israelis were wounded at midday Thursday when Hamas terrorists shelled the Eshkol Regional Council district.

The area is also a staging area for thousands of IDF troops who are on standby waiting for their orders prior to entering Gaza.

Most of those injured are listed in good condition, according to the report, which was broadcast on Army Radio. It is not clear whether they were civilians or soldiers.

Seven Qassam rockets were intercepted over Sderot, indicating that all were headed straight for residential areas.

Mortar attacks are problematic due to the difficulty of identifying them in time to activate the Code Red incoming alert system. The IDF is currently testing a new radar system to spot the source of the mortar fire, called the ‘Green Rock,’ which would trigger an alert in time for civilians to seek shelter and soldiers to return fire and intercept the shells.