JERUSALEM (AP) -- The Israeli military says gunfire from Syria hit an Israeli patrol on the Golan Heights overnight, damaging a vehicle and prompting the troops to fire back.

The military said on Tuesday that the Israeli troops reported a "direct hit" from the return fire but provided no further details.

Sporadic fire from Syria's civil war has occasionally hit the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel captured in the 1967 war. Mortar shells have also struck orchards, spreading panic and sparking fires.

Israel assumes most of the incidents are accidental fire but its forces have responded on several occasions.

Israel is believed to have carried out three airstrikes targeting Syrian arms shipments bound for the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group.