A view of Syria from Israeli side of the border. Photo: wiki commons.

Dozens of Syrians approached the country’s border with Israel on Wednesday, the Jerusalem Post reported. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which reacted by evacuating tourists from Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights, said it was unclear whether or not the Syrians were armed.

The incident comes mortar shells from Syria landed in the Golan for the first time on record last week—shells that, according to the IDF, were “aimed at villages inside Syria and are part of the internal, ongoing conflict in Syria.”

But while that internal turmoil continues to rage in Syria, it appears the foreign ministry in Damascus instead has the Golan on its mind, Israel Hayom reported.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said: “The central issue of importance to us is the restoration of occupied Arab territories in Palestine and the Golan Heights.”

According to Muallem, “Syria has not changed its position because it has the right to reclaim the Syrian Golan which was occupied in 1967.”