‘Eleven killed’ as Israeli troops open fire on border protesters

Israeli troops opened fire yesterday on a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters who tried to break into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from neighbouring Syria, killing as many as 11 people and wounding scores in a burst of violence marking the Arab defeat in the 1967 Middle East war.

By The Newsroom

Published 6th Jun 2011, 12:59 BST

The casualty figures came from Syrian state TV. Israel has offered no immediate comment on dead or wounded.

Israel angrily accused the Syrian regime of orchestrating the violence – the second border clash in less than a month – to deflect attention from its bloody crackdown on a popular uprising at home.

Israel had promised to prevent a repeat of last month’s deadly protests, in which hundreds of people broke through a border fence, entered the Golan and clashed with Israeli forces.

Thousands of troops were mobilised in anticipation of possible unrest.

“Unfortunately, extremist forces around us are trying today to breach our borders and threaten our communities and our citizens. We will not let them do that,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet.

Syria Benjamin Netanyahu