Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet on Tuesday after the aircraft breached Israeli airspace. The incident comes one day after Israeli interceptors were launched to defend against Syrian missiles believed to have been headed for Israeli territory.
Syria confirmed that one of its fighter jets was downed by Israeli air defenses.
The Syrian warplane was shot down over the Golan Heights but may have crashed on the Syrian side of the border, Army Radio reported. The condition of the pilot was unclear, the report said.
The IDF issued a statement Tuesday afternoon, saying that "two Patriot interceptor missiles were launched at a Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet. The aircraft had been under surveillance and penetrated some 2 kilometers into Israeli territory and was promptly shot down.
"The internal fighting in Syria has intensified since this morning, including increased Syrian aerial activity. We are on high alert and will continue to take action against any violation of the 1974 accord," the statement concluded, referring to the Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria, which stipulates a buffer zone around the shared border, among other provisions.
At around 1 p.m. Tuesday, air defense sirens blared across northern Israel, signaling an aerial threat. Shortly thereafter, locals reported that two interceptor missiles had been spotted over the city of Safed.
According to a Safed municipal spokesperson, "The aerial defense system was deployed in our area. There are no new instructions, we are continuing with our normal routine."
In February, an Israeli F-16 fighter jet crashed in northern Israel after coming under heavy Syrian fire in a series of tense clashes on the border. The Israeli aircraft was the first to be downed by enemy fire in decades.
