U.N. Security Council calls for end to Golan military activity

Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The United Nations Security Council condemned the fighting between Syrian government and rebel forces on the Golan Heights and called for an end to military activity in the area.

The council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the two sides to cease “military activity of any kind” on the Golan in the area between Syria and Israel.

The resolution comes days after an Israeli teen riding in a vehicle on the Golan near the border fence was killed by a rocket fired from Syria. The Israel Defense Forces, which said it believes the attack was intentional and not a stray rocket as part of the three-year civil war, responded with tank fire across the Golan Heights border at Syrian military positions.

The resolution said that Syrian military activity in the Golan “have the potential to escalate tensions” between Syria and Israel.

The resolution also extended the U.N. monitoring mission of the Israeli-Syrian cease-fire, which went into effect in April 2012, through the end of the year.