The U.N. Security Council condemned the shelling and appealed for restraint from both countries.

Before Saturday's incidents, Syria's U.N. Ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, said his country "is not seeking any escalation with any of its neighbors, including Turkey."

Rebels report a potentially key 'capture'

In addition to the fighting over Khirbet al-Jouz, government and rebel forces clashed near Damascus, Aleppo and other cities. Heavy fighting was reported in the western province of Homs, where fighting and shelling left 24 people dead, according to activists.

Nationwide, at least 110 people died in fighting Saturday, the opposition Local Coordinating Committees said.

Meanwhile, the al-Farouq brigade, one of the rebel groups operating in Homs, claimed on its Facebook page to have captured 1st Lt. Housam Assad and two of his aides. The military commander of that brigade, Abu Sayeh Jenaidi, appeared on Al Jazeera and said the detainee claims to be a direct relative of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Housam Assad is wounded, but in stable condition, the military commander said.

CNN cannot independently verify the claims by al-Farouq brigade, nor the relationship that Housam Assad may have with the Syrian president.

Syrian defense ministers says security forces are more determined than ever to restore peace

Defense Minister Gen. Fahd Jassem al-Freij spoke Saturday on state TV, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said.

"Our armed forces today are more resolved to restore security and stability to Syria and cut off the hand of whoever tries to harm it and eliminate the remnants of defeated terrorists wherever they are," SANA reported he said.

Al-Freij was named minister after his predecessor was killed in July.

He noted, also, that "the homeland's door is still open to all its sons, including those who were misled and want to go back on track under the homeland's umbrella," SANA reported.

Saturday marks deadline for Iranian hostages

Iranian officials urged international groups to act to stop the threatened killing of 48 Iranian citizens by Syrian rebels, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.

In a video posted to YouTube, the rebels holding the hostages have threatened to begin killing them Saturday unless the Syrian regime releases rebel detainees and stops what the rebels called the "ongoing random slaughter" of innocent civilians.

The group, the Revolutionary Council of Eastern Ghouta, said one hostage would die for each Syrian killed by government forces.

The hostages were kidnapped in August while on what Iran has described as a religious pilgrimage. The rebels have described the hostages as members of Iran's military, an assertion Iran has denied.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi talked with Davutoglu by telephone Saturday and urged him to help secure release of the hostages.

The semi-official Mehr News Agency said Salehi also spoke with the prime minister of Qatar in an effort to resolve the situation.