An Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter jet at an air show at the graduation ceremony of Israeli Air Force pilots at the Hatzerim Base in the Negev Desert, near Beersheva, Israel, December 26, 2013. The Israeli Air Force killed a team of militants placing a mine in the country's Golan Heights region on April 26. 2015, according to reports. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

MAJDAL SHAMS, Israel, April 26 (UPI) -- The Israeli Air Force killed a team of four militants planting an explosive device near the country's northern border on Sunday, according to reports.

The Israeli Defense Force eliminated a "a group of armed terrorists" that was "identified while clearly laying a mine," near the Golan Heights town of Majdal Shams, on the slopes of Mount Hermon, IDF spokesman Col. Peter Lerner was quoted by the Times of Israel as saying.


The IDF released a statement saying it would "not accept any attempt to attack or infringe Israel's sovereignty," and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by the Times as saying every "attempt to injure our soldiers and our citizens will be met with a decisive response like the IDF action this evening, which thwarted an attempted terror attack."

The strike comes one day after the IDF was reported to have bombed Scud missile depots manned by Hezbollah fighters and government forces in Syria's al-Qalamoun area, on the border between Syria and Lebanon, in a series of attacks that began Wednesday.

Hezbollah, a Shia militant group from Lebanon, has fought in Syria on behalf of forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, who belongs to the country's Alawite minority that is associated with Shia Islam.

Israel said it has targeted its northern border area in the past when Iran attempted to supply arms to Hezbollah, its Shia proxy in the region.

Hezbollah advances on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights in the past months have put Israel on edge.

An Israeli airstrike in the area killed a prominent Hezbollah commander in January. The following month, further Israeli strikes inside Lebanon prompted Hezbollah to release a statement condemning the "blatant assault on Lebanon and its sovereignty and its territory." The group promised it would "choose the time and place and the proper way to respond to it."