The Israeli military says it has attacked "dozens" of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria in response to an Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the long-contested Golan Heights.
Here are some facts about the area and why it matters today:
—The Golan Heights is a plateau at the southwestern corner of Syria overlooking the Sea of Galilee and northern Israel, roughly 40 miles (65 kilometers) long and 15 miles (25 kilometers) wide. Militarily, it is strategic high ground, with broad views of both Israel and Syria below.
— Syria shelled northern Israel from the Golan Heights between 1948 and 1967. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed it in 1981. No country recognizes the annexation.
— Syria fought in three wars against Israel in 1948, 1967 and 1973, and battled Israel when it invaded Lebanon in 1982. Israel also acknowledged this year it carried out a 2007 airstrike in eastern Syria targeting an unfinished nuclear reactor built by North Korea. Syria and Israel have never made peace.
— A force of over 1,100 United Nations troops are based in the Golan Heights to ensure a cease-fire between Israel and Syria holds.
— Israel largely has stayed out of Syria's long war, though it has carried out airstrikes against suspected weapons shipments by Iran to the Lebanese Hezbollah group. As the war now looks to be winding down, Israel has stepped up its tempo of strikes against Iran, viewing any permanent Iranian military presence in Syria as a threat.
