An IDF soldier looks into southern Syria from the Israeli side of the border. Photo: IDF via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – For the first time, the head of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) arrived in Israel for an official meeting with top Israeli military officials.

Gen. Joseph L. Vote is scheduled to meet with Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, Israeli National Security Council members and senior IDF officials to discuss security issues in the region.

As Vote arrived, the IDF fired on a position held by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s troops after a mortar shell landed near Israel’s security fence on the northern Golan Heights on Monday close to Quneitra.

The shell is believed to be spillover from the ongoing Syrian civil war.

The IDF reported that the return of fire is in line with Israel’s policy of holding the Assad regime responsible for any and all errant projectiles in its effort to provide security to citizens in the north.