Israel reports 'Syrian gunfire'

Israeli soldiers keep watch over the Israel-Syria border

The Israeli army has said its soldiers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights came under fire from Syrian territory.

It said it did not return fire and none of its troops were injured. The army added that it had lodged a complaint with United Nations peacekeepers.

Syria rejected Israeli accusations, saying that young people had been setting off fireworks in the area.

Israel occupied the territory in the 1967 war, annexing it in 1981, in defiance of international law.

"There was shooting from Syria towards an Israeli force south of [the Syrian town] Quneitra," an Israeli army spokeswoman said.

"The Israeli Defence Forces did not respond in order to maintain restraint," the spokeswoman added.

Israeli officials said the incident happened when soldiers were repairing a border fence.

A Syrian official dismissed the Israeli account.

The official told Syria's state-run Sana news agency that those were "just youngsters throwing firecrackers to mark the anniversary of the liberation of the town of Quneitra".

He was referring to the town's return to Syria under the 1974 armistice after Damascus tried to retake the strategic plateau during the 1973 Middle East war.

Negotiations between Israel and Syria broke down in 2000 over control of the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

More than 1,000 peacekeepers from the UN Disengagement Observer Force supervise the ceasefire.