A Patriot missile intercepted a Syrian drone that entered Israeli airspace on Thursday evening, the army said.

According to the IDF, the missile successfully downed the unmanned aerial vehicle over the Golan Heights.

“The IDF will not allow any breach of Israel’s airspace and will act against any attempt of infiltration,” the army said in a statement.

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According to the IDF, the Syrian UAV was under “full [Israeli Air Force] surveillance” while it was in Israeli airspace.

It was not initially clear if the aircraft was Russian or Syrian, but the army later confirmed that it was Syrian.

The army said residents of northern Israel could go about their lives as normal.

A video from the northern Israeli city of Safed showed the Patriot missile launch.

#BREAKING video: Launch of a Patriot missile from northern Israel against an unidentified aircraft pic.twitter.com/TQYgxgG7PV — Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) April 27, 2017

On Wednesday, Arab media reported that Israel attacked a Syrian Army air base near Damascus.

Israel would not officially comment on whether it had carried out the strike. However, Syrian officials insisted the Jewish state was behind the attack, which reportedly targeted a stash of weapons that were bound for the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group.

Though he didn’t explicitly acknowledge Israel was behind it, Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said the attack was consistent with Israel’s policy of preventing arms transfers to Hezbollah.

Israel has carried out multiple airstrikes in Syria since that country’s civil war erupted in 2011, most of which it has said targeted arms convoys or warehouses of its Lebanese arch-foe Hezbollah, which is a key supporter of the Syrian regime.

Last month, the army said it conducted several strikes near the Syrian desert city of Palmyra, targeting what it said were “advanced weapons” belonging to Hezbollah.

The strikes prompted Syria to launch ground-to-air missiles, one of which was intercepted over Israeli territory in the most serious flare-up between the two neighbors since the Syrian civil war began six years ago.

The Patriot missiles were designed by the United States to intercept incoming missiles and aircraft.

They have been deployed in Israel since the 1990s, but first saw anti-aircraft combat during the 2014 Gaza war, when a battery shot down an unmanned Hamas aircraft over the port of Ashdod.

On August 31, 2014, the system saw its second combat use, when a battery shot down a Syrian unmanned aerial vehicle in the Golan Heights.

A month after that, the Patriot system was used to down a Syrian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24, which penetrated Israeli air space.

AFP contributed to this report. </s> An Israeli drone was downed in Syrian territory on Monday, the Israeli military said, confirming an earlier report in the Syrian and Lebanese media that the unmanned vehicle was shot down by Syrian aerial defense systems.

Syria said the drone, a Skylark, was downed over Quneitra in the Syrian Golan Heights. Lebanese terror group Hezbollah posted pictures of the downed drone on its social media pages.

The Israeli military said the circumstances of the incident were being checked, but that there were no immediate suspicions that classified data could be retrieved from the device.

The “sky rider,” as it’s known in Hebrew, is a tactical surveillance drone created by Elbit Systems and operated by the IDF’s Artillery Corps. The miniature UAV can be launched by one or two people, depending on the model, and once airborne provides a live video feed to soldiers on the ground.

Monday’s incident came after days of escalating tensions between Israel and Syria, set off by an early morning Israeli raid last Friday on a Hezbollah weapons convoy near Palmyra, with Syrian air defenses firing missiles at the Israeli planes.

An Israeli army statement said “several anti-aircraft missiles” were fired following the raid, but that none hit their targets, dismissing a Syrian claim that one plane was downed and another damaged. One missile was intercepted by Israel’s Arrow missile defense battery, military officials said, in the first reported use of the advanced system.

It was the most serious incident between the two countries since the Syrian civil war began six years ago.

On Sunday, an Israeli drone strike reportedly killed a member of a Syrian pro-regime militia, striking a truck driving near the town of Khan Arnabeh in the Quneitra province, on the road to Damascus.

The National Defense Force, a pro-regime militia set up in 2012, claimed the man killed was from among its ranks. It named the man as Yasser Hussien Assayed.

The reported strike came hours after Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman threatened to destroy Syrian air defense systems, after Israeli aircraft were targeted during a bombing run early Friday morning.

“The next time the Syrians use their air defense systems against our planes we will destroy them without the slightest hesitation,” Liberman said on Israel Radio.

Late Sunday, Syria’s ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari said Syria’s response to Friday’s strike was a “game-changer.”

Speaking on Syrian state TV, Jaafari said the military’s response was “appropriate and in line with Israel’s terrorist operation,” and that Israel “will now think a million times [before striking again],” according to a translation cited in Ynet.

“Syria’s forceful response to the Israeli attacks changed the rules of the game,” he said.

Israeli officials have warned of the possibility Hezbollah and Iran could attempt to set up a base to attack Israel near the border with the Israeli Golan Heights.

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow, where he asked the Kremlin to make sure Iran does not gain a foothold in the area.

Israel has also repeatedly vowed to prevent Hezbollah from acquiring any advanced weaponry and several strikes on such convoys over the years since the Syrian civil war began in 2011 have been attributed to Israel. Jerusalem has also claimed several of the raids, including Friday’s.

“Each time we discover arms transfers from Syria to Lebanon we will act to stop them. On this there will be no compromise,” Liberman said Sunday.

“The Syrians must understand that they are held responsible for these arms transfers to Hezbollah and that if they continue to allow them then we will do what we have to do.”

Overnight Sunday-Monday, Syrian media reported that Israeli jets struck yet another Hezbollah weapons convoy near the Lebanon-Syria border. The reports were not confirmed. </s> The Israeli Air Force was attempting to target an Iranian cargo plane that was unloading at Damascus International Airport, according to reports.

There were explosions in Damascus and air defenses are engaging targets.

The Israeli Air Force hit multiple targets in Syria last month in what it said was a 'retaliatory' measure amid an alleged Iranian military buildup in the Arab Republic.

The images provided by satellite imaging company ImageSat International (ISI), yet to be independently verified, offer an overview of some of the damage caused by Israeli bombing last month of what are claimed to be Iranian military positions.

On Sunday, the IDF reported that they had fired a Patriot missile into Syrian airspace, targeting a drone approaching from Syria."We will not allow violation of our aerial sovereignty," the IDF stated.

According to Haaretz newspaper, prior to the launch, residents of the Upper Galilee in northern Israel witnessed an explosion and a smoke trail they had supposedly seen in the sky.

"A Patriot missile was launched at an unmanned aerial vehicle approaching from Syria. The drone turned away from the border as a result without being hit," the IDF said in a press release. </s> It’s another in a series of attacks whose aftermath has solidified into a routine diplomatic dance.

Syria’s army accused Israel of “launching several missiles from inside the occupied territories at dawn on Thursday,” which struck a “military position” near Damascus International Airport, according to an unnamed military source speaking to Syrian state media.

The attack, said the source, resulted in explosions and left “some material losses.”

“The Israeli aggression comes as a desperate attempt to raise the collapsed morale of terrorist groups due to the Syrian army’s blows,” continued the source, using the government’s routine term for the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“This aggression will not dissuade the army from continuing the war against terrorism and crushing it.”

According to a report by the pro-opposition watchdog Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the blast from the strikes “could be heard all through Damascus and its suburbs,” and fire was seen rising near the airport.

The observatory group said sources thought the large explosion had occurred because ammunition depots, believed to be for the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, had been targeted.

Israel, as has been customary after similar strikes in the past, neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.

But Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz, in an interview with Israel Army Radio, broadly hinted that Israel was involved.

“I can confirm that the incident in Syria is entirely consistent with the policy of Israel to operate to prevent the smuggling of advanced weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon,” he said. “This is a declared policy that we are also carrying out.”

Official statements by the Syrian government did not mention if there would be any retaliation. But later on Thursday, an Israeli patriot missile shot down a drone over the Golan Heights, according to Israeli media.

The drone was said to have been launched from Syrian territories.

An agency affiliated with Hezbollah, the Central Combat Media, quoted a report from the Israeli outlet Yediot Ahronot that a Patriot missile had shot down a drone launched from Syrian territories.

According to the report, the drone had flown over parts of the occupied territories in Israel’s north.

Hezbollah is a staunch battlefield ally of Assad’s. Its cadres often have been the spearhead of ground assaults against the rebels — a development that Israel believes will make the Lebanese Shiite group a hardier adversary in a potential future conflict.

Israel has been carrying out strikes in Syria throughout the civil war to block the transfer of what has been described as game-changing weapons to Hezbollah.

Thursday’s attack comes after Russia, Iran and other pro-government allied forces had vowed to respond forcefully to any “aggression … by anyone” in the wake of a U.S. cruise missile strike on Syria earlier this month. They added they would increase support to the Syrian army in “a number of ways.”

Yet despite Moscow’s condemnation in the aftermath of the attack, it was unclear whether it had been aware of the strike. Russia has provided Damascus with sophisticated air defense systems that presumably could deter such attacks from Israel.

Special correspondents Bulos reported from Beirut and Mitnick from Tel Aviv.

11:10 a.m.: This article was updated with new details that Israel shot down a drone over the Golan Heights.

This article was originally published at 10:25 a.m. </s> JERUSALEM - The Israeli military shot down an Iranian drone it said infiltrated the country early Saturday before launching a "large-scale attack" on at least a dozen Iranian and Syrian targets inside Syria, in its most significant engagement since the fighting in neighboring Syria began in 2011. Responding anti-aircraft fire led to the downing of an Israeli fighter plane.

Israel said the drone infiltration was a "severe and irregular violation of Israeli sovereignty" and warned of further action against unprecedented Iranian aggression.

The military said its planes faced massive anti-aircraft fire from Syria that forced two pilots to abandon an F-16 jet that crashed in northern Israel. One pilot was seriously wounded and the other lightly. Syrian officials reported large explosions in the center of the country and the Syrian counter fire set off warning sirens throughout northern Israel.

The exchanges marked the height of tensions along the volatile Israel-Syria frontier and Israel said Iran would be held responsible for its outcome.

Syria accuses U.S. of supporting ‘terrorism’ after air strike

"This is a serious Iranian attack on Israeli territory. Iran is dragging the region into an adventure in which it doesn't know how it will end," Israel's chief military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis, said in a special statement. "Whoever is responsible for this incident is the one who will pay the price."

Gen. Hossein Salami, acting commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, did not acknowledge Israel's claim it shot down the drone. "We do not confirm any such news from Israel," he said. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasem called the Israeli claim "ridiculous."

The Israeli military, however, released aerial footage of the drone being tracked and then shot down by an Israeli Apache attack helicopter.

The joint operations room for the Syrian military and its allies denied the drone violated Israeli airspace, saying it was on a regular mission gathering intelligence on Islamic State militants.

Syria's Defense Ministry said in statements on its website that its air defenses responded successfully to the Israeli operation and hit more than one plane. "The Israeli enemy has once again attacked some of our military bases in the southern area and our air defenses responded and foiled the aggression," it said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman were convening the top brass at military headquarters in Tel Aviv for emergency consultations on the Sabbath to discuss further response.

Israel has mostly stayed out of the prolonged fighting in Syria, wary of being drawn into a war in which nearly all the parties are hostile toward it. It has recently been warning of the increased Iranian presence along its border, but military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Saturday's incident marked the most "blatant and severe violation of Israeli sovereignty" yet.

He said Israel has no interest in further escalation but that it would "extract a heavy price" for such aggression.

Conricus said Iran was "playing with fire" by infiltrating Israeli airspace, and said the unmanned aircraft Israel shot down was "on a military mission sent and operated by Iranian military forces." He said Israel recovered the remains of the dispatched drone, which proved it was Iranian.

In response, Conricus said Israeli jets destroyed the Iranian site in central Syria that launched it. Upon their return, the jets came under heavy Syrian anti-aircraft fire and the pilots of one of the F-16s had to eject and the plane crashed. It's unclear whether the plane was actually struck or if the pilots abandoned their mission for a different reason.

If the plane was in fact shot down by enemy fire, it could mark the first such instance for Israel since 1982 during the first Lebanon war.

Wassim Elias, 39, a government employee, called it retribution for the many Israeli raids on Syrian soil before. "This earned the Syrian army and every Syrian citizen prestige. This is what we have always demanded," he said.

Firas Hamdan, 42, a public servant, said such Syrian responses will ensure no more Israeli attacks in Syria. "Such attacks should be confronted and the response should be tougher to give the Israelis a lesson."

In subsequent attacks, Israel struck four additional Iranian positions and eight Syrian sites in Syria. The military said significant damage was caused. Conricus said the Israeli jets faced between 15 to 20 anti-aircraft missiles fired by SA-5 and SA-17 batteries. All the Israeli jets in those sorties returned home safely.

Israel has taken great care to coordinate all its actions in the area with Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar Assad and maintains a large military presence in the country.

But Russia's foreign ministry expressed concern over Saturday's strike and called for restraint.

"We consider it necessary to unconditionally respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and other countries of the region," it said in a statement. "It is absolutely unacceptable to create threats to the lives and security of Russian servicemen who are in Syria at the invitation of its legitimate government to assist in the fight against terrorists."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war in Syria, said Israel targeted the edges of a military air base, called T-4, in the Homs desert near Palmyra, where Iranian and Hezbollah forces are based alongside Syrian troops. The Observatory said the raids resulted in casualties, but didn't specify. It also said Israeli raids targeted areas in southwestern Damascus, bordering the southern provinces. This was followed by raids on Syrian government posts along the Damascus-Beirut road, close to the border between Syria and Lebanon.

Syrian state TV said air defenses hit more than one Israeli plane and that a girl was injured when Israeli missiles fell near a school in a neighborhood in Damascus' countryside.

A Syrian lawmaker, Feras Shehabi, said the response marked a "major shift in the balance of power in favor of Syria and the axis of resistance." He said "Israelis must realize they have no longer superiority in the skies or on the ground."

Retired Lt. Col. Reuven Ben-Shalom, a former Air Force pilot, said the fierce Israeli response was meant not only to counter the immediate threat but also to send "very clear messages" to show Iran how deep Israel's knowledge was of its activity in Syria.

"The fact that a drone like this is identified, tracked and intercepted so smoothly by the Israeli air force demonstrates our capabilities, demonstrates our resolve not to allow the breach of Israeli sovereignty," he said. "I think it's good that our enemies learn and understand these capabilities."

Israel has long complained about the involvement of archenemy Iran, and Iranian proxy Hezbollah, in the Syria war. The Shiite allies have sent forces to back Syrian President Bashar Assad, who appears headed toward victory after years of fighting. Israel has said it will not accept a permanent military presence by Iran and its Shiite allies in Syria, especially near the Israeli border.

Israel has been warning of late of the increased Iranian involvement along its border in Syria and Lebanon. It fears Iran could use Syrian territory to stage attacks or create a land corridor from Iran to Lebanon that could allow it to transfer weapons more easily to Hezbollah.

The Israeli Cabinet recently held a meeting on the Golan Heights near the border with Syria to highlight new threats, which are attributed to Iran's growing confidence given Assad's apparent victory in Syria thanks to their help.

Israel has shot down several drones that previously tried to infiltrate its territory from Syria. The targeting of Iranian sites in response, however, marks an escalation in the Israeli retaliation. The military confirmed that the initial target in Syria — the unmanned aircraft's launch components — was successfully destroyed and released footage of the strike. </s> The Israeli Air Force shot down a Syrian fighter jet that traveled two kilometers into Israeli airspace on Tuesday afternoon, the military said.

“Two Patriot missiles were fired at a Syrian Sukhoi-model fighter jet,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

The IDF said the aircraft was monitored as it approached the border with the Golan Heights.

“It penetrated two kilometers into Israeli airspace and was shot down,” the army said.

According to Sky News Arabia, the plane crashed inside southwest Syria, in the Yarmouk Basin, an area still under the control of the Islamic State . It was not immediately clear if the pilots ejected before the fighter jet was shot down or what their condition was.

The official Syrian news outlet SANA confirmed that Israel had shot at one of its fighter jets, but said the plane was inside Syrian airspace at the time it was targeted.

According to SANA, Israel fired at “one of our war planes, which are leveling [terrorist] encampments in the Saida region on the outskirts of the Yarmouk Basin, in Syrian airspace.”

A military source quoted by SANA accused Israel of aiding “terrorists” in the country’s southwest, where the Syrian air force has been conducting extensive bombing raids throughout the day against a number of opposition groups in the area.

It was not immediately clear if the plane was a Sukhoi-22 or a Sukhoi-24, two different types of Russian-made fighter jets in use by the Syrian Air Force, the military said.

The IDF said it had noticed increased air force activity in southwestern Syria, near the border, since the morning.

“We have passed a number of messages, in a number of languages in order to ensure that no one violates Israeli air space,” IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told reporters.

Update: Unconfirmed reports say that a pilot was killed. </s> Israel's Patriot Missile Defense System Intercepted a Projectile From Syria

 

 (BEIRUT) — Israel's military says it deployed its Patriot missile defense system to intercept a projectile incoming from Syria above the Golan Heights. The military did not elaborate on what it described as a "target" in its message on Thursday night. </s> Israel shot down a Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet Tuesday that infiltrated its airspace, the Israeli military announced.

The jet entered about 1.2 miles into Israeli airspace before it was hit by a pair of Patriot missiles, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

It's the first downing of a Syrian jet since a U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornet shot one down over Syria in June 2017 after the Syrian plane fired on U.S.-backed Syrian forces.

"Since this morning, there has been an increase in the internal fighting in Syria and the Syrian Air Force's activity. The IDF is on high alert and will continue to operate against the violation of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement," the military said in a tweet.

On Tuesday, Syrian forces reached the Golan Heights frontier for the first time in seven years. The government forces reached the border fence with the U.N.'s Disengagement Observer Force.

Minutes before the reported shootdown, Syria's state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV was broadcasting footage from the fence demarcating the U.N. buffer zone between Syrian and Israeli forces inside the Golan Heights. A U.N. observer post could be seen just on the other side of the fence.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> YERUSHALAYIM/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The IDF denied on Tuesday morning a report on Syrian state media that an Israeli warplane and a drone were shot down after an Israeli attack on a Syrian army position.

“Overnight two surface-to-air missiles were launched from Syria after the mission to target Syrian artillery positions. At no point was the safety of [Israeli] aircraft compromised,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

The Syrian army earlier said it had shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone in Syria after an Israeli attack on a Syrian army position in southern Syria.

SANA news agency said that the warplane had attacked an army position at 1 a.m. on Tuesday in the southern Quneitra countryside, and that it and a drone were then shot down.
The Israeli Air Defense Command shoots down a Syrian Air Force drone using a MIM-104 Patriot missile.