The Israeli army remained on high alert in the region on Friday, bringing up reinforcements of tanks and troops, and readying an anti-tank missile unit, media said.
That came after Austria said it would withdraw peacekeepers from the U.N. force, citing deteriorating security, and the Philippines said it was studying a similar move after one of its soldiers was maimed in the fierce fighting on Thursday.
The Quneitra crossing between the Israeli and Syrian sides of the armistice line was briefly seized by rebels and then recaptured by government troops following small-arms and artillery exchanges, a security source said.
An Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent saw tanks of
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Horror of Homs...
's regime approaching the ceasefire line later in the day.
Israeli army front man Captain Arye Shalicar told AFP on Thursday: "We're watching very closely what's happening there, and we have to be ready for any development. We hope there won't be any spillover into Israel.
"It is very worrying because, on the one hand, you have jihadists and Islamists who are fighting there (on the rebel side) and, on the other hand, you also have government forces which are allied with Hizbullah.
"We certainly don't want to have Hizbullah on two fronts," he said, referring to the presence of the group in southern Leb.
Quneitra, the only crossing along the ceasefire line, is used almost exclusively by Druze residents of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights who are allowed to cross over to study, work or get married.