AFP•September 14, 2016
Damascus (AFP) - Syria's military said Tuesday it shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone in response to an attack on Syrian army positions -- a claim denied by Israel.
"Our air defences blocked the attack and shot down the military aircraft in (the southern province of) Quneitra and a drone" in the province of Damascus, said the Syrian army statement carried by state news agency SANA.
It accused Israeli forces of supporting "armed terrorist groups" in the country's south.
The Israeli army said none of its aircraft had been downed overnight on Monday, as claimed by Syria, and it carried out fresh strikes against Syrian artillery positions on Tuesday night.
Both raids were in response to what appeared to be stray fire from fighting in Syria landing on the Israeli-held zone of the Golan Heights.
"At no point was the safety of (Israeli) aircraft compromised. Nothing true about what they claim," military spokesman Arye Shalicar said Tuesday.
He said that two surface-to-air missiles had been launched at Israeli aircraft overnight Monday.
An Israeli military spokeswoman told AFP that Monday's projectile was most likely spillover from "internal fighting in Syria."
It was the fourth such incident in nine days, and came as a new Syrian ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States came into force on Monday.
The initial 48-hour truce does not apply to areas held by jihadists such as the Islamic State group.
Israel has sought to avoid being drawn into Syria's complex war which is now in its sixth year, but it has attacked Syrian military targets when fire from the conflict spills over.
Original post: yahoo
IDF says Syria fired missiles at its jets, but denies claim aircraft was downed
IDF issues rare response to foreign report, saying Syrian missile were nowhere near vicinity of Israeli aircraft.
Tuesday it had shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone after an Israeli attack on a regime position in southern Syria, state media reported.
Syrian news agency SANA reported that President Bashar Assad's forces shot down the Israeli aircraft in Syria after the IAF struck in the southern Quneitra countryside in response to a mortar exploding in the Golan Heights. The projectile's landing in the Golan appeared to be spillover fire from fighting in Syria.
In a rare response to a foreign report, the IDF on Tuesday denied that any of its aircraft had been downed, but said Syrian forces had fired two surface-to-air missiles after the Israeli strike Monday night on a Syrian position.
However, the military said the missiles were nowhere near the vicinity of the Israel aircraft. The IDF added that all the Israeli jets had returned to base.
On Monday evening, Syrian fire crossed into the northern Golan Heights as a nationwide ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia came into effect in the embattled country.
In response, the Israeli air force attacked cannons belonging to the Syrian regime on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.
The IDF considers the Syrian regime responsible for every action on its territory and will not suffer any attempt to hurt the sovereignty of the State of Israel and its residents safety, the army stated.
Eli Malka, head of the Golan Regional Council responded to Monday night's fire emanating from Syria saying, "There is no difference between spillover fire and intentional fire, a bomb is a bomb and poses a risk to human life."
"It is the responsibility of the Minister of Defense and the IDF to convey a clear message to all parties on the other side of the border that all shots fired in the Golan will be treated as firing on Israel and the IDF will respond by destructing the source of the fire," Malka added.
Source jpost
