Israel Retaliates after Syria Mortar Lands in Golan

Israel's military confirmed that it fired a rocket into Syria, Thursday, after a mortar landed in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.  The mortar fire was a by-product of fighting between the Syrian Army and Islamist rebels.

The al-Nusra front, an offshoot of al Qaeda, took over the strategic Quneitra crossing in Syria last week, putting rebel troops just 50 yards away from the Israeli border in some places.

The Israeli government says it holds the Syrian army responsible for the mortar fire.

Meanwhile, United Nations peacekeepers stationed in Syria are fleeing to Israel, according to a report by Al Jazeera. 

The report claims U.N. forces have abandoned their post in the buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border following clashes between troops from the Philippines and radical Islamists.

Al-Nusra captured 44 Fijian peacekeepers earlier this week in the Golan.  They still have not been located.

Last weekend, Australia became the latest nation to speak out against the kidnapping of the U.N. soldiers. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called for the "unconditional and immediate release of all the detained United Nations peacekeepers."

Some Israelis believe the Syrian rebels will eventually try to get into Israeli territory.

"They'll come at us in the end, I have no doubt," said 56-year-old Yehiel Gadis, who lives in central Israel and looked through binoculars to the Syrian side of the border while on a sightseeing trip.

Israel ordered farmers and wine-makers in the Golan to evacuate last week after rebels advanced in Syria.  Mortar shells falling on the Israeli side of the border set fire to vineyards and destroyed many grapes.