Signs pointing out distances to different cities is seen on Mount Bental, an observation post in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that overlooks the Syrian side of the Quneitra crossing March 25, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad.

Syria accused Israeli forces on Saturday of shooting dead Medhat Al-Saleh, a former member of the Syrian parliament who spent 12 years in jail in Israel, state-run television Al-Ekhbariya quoted the cabinet as saying.

Syrian state news agency SANA said Al-Saleh “was martyred as the Israeli enemy targeted him with fire while returning home” on Saturday in Ain al-Tineh, a village inside Syria that is near the Golan Heights.

The Syrian government denounced what it called “this cowardly criminal act.”

An Israeli military spokesperson said the military does not comment on foreign reports.

The government said Saleh had spent 12 years in prison in Israel after being jailed in 1985 on charges of what it called “resistance” to Israeli authorities.