Israel fires Patriot missile at second drone from Syria this week

The IDF announced that it launched a Patriot missile at a drone that approached the country’s border from Syria.

By: AP and World Israel News Staff

Israel’s military says that for the second time this week it fired a Patriot missile at an unmanned aircraft that approached the country’s border from Syria.

The military did not immediately have additional details.

On Wednesday, a drone traveled about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) inside Israeli territory before it was shot down. That incident
came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin about Syria and Iran. Russia has been a key ally of the Syrian government in its civil war.

The Syrian drone that infiltrated Israeli airspace on Wednesday was also shot down by a Patriot missile fired by IDF aerial defense units in the north of Israel.

The alarms sounded in the Golan Heights and the Jordan Valley were triggered by the unmanned aerial vehicle’s violation of Israeli air space.

At that time, the army ordered all boats to clear out of the Sea of Galilee so forces could collect fragments of the drone.

On Thursday, the Israeli military targeted Syrian military positions in response.

In a similar incident last month, Israel fired a missile at a drone that approached its airspace near the Syrian frontier, and in February Israel shot down an Iranian drone that entered its airspace.

Read  IDF forces capture Syrian infiltrator in Golan

Israel subsequently bombed Iranian targets in Syria in response.