Israel shot at Syrian fighter planes within Israeli airspace as sirens sounded in northern Israel both in the Golan Heights and the Jordan Valley.
By: World Israel News Staff
Two Patriot missiles were launched at a Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet that infiltrated about one mile into Israeli airspace, an IDF spokesman said.
The IDF monitored the fighter jet, which was then intercepted by the Patriot missiles.
Israel activated its anti-missile alert system as sirens sounded in the Golan and Emek HaYarden regional councils and the city of Katzrin.
Residents in the north have received the OK to leave bomb shelters.
Here is a video of the Israeli Patriot system being activated.
According to Sky News Arabia, the plane crashed inside Syria, in the Yarmouk Basin. It was not immediately clear if the pilot ejected before the fighter jet was shot down.
The military said it had noticed increased Syrian air force activity in the area since the morning.
The IDF and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have said Israel will continue to enforce the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement, which requires Syria to abide by a demilitarized zone between the two countries
It was the first time that Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet since 2014, when another Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jet entered Israeli airspace and was targeted with a Patriot missile.
On Monday, Israel for the first time used David’s Sling, an anti-missile system for longer-range rockets after alarms were activated in the north.