Image copyright AFP Image caption Israel says it fired Patriot missiles at the plane

Israel says it has shot down a Syrian warplane which entered its airspace - a rare incident between the two foes.

Two surface-to-air missiles were fired at the Sukhoi fighter jet, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tweeted.

According to Israeli reports, it happened over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The pilot's fate is not clear.

Syrian news agency Sana said Israel had targeted the jet over Syrian airspace, but did not say whether it was hit.

Sana quoted an unnamed military source as saying the plane was conducting raids against "armed terrorist groups" near the southern Yarmouk Valley.

Syria routinely describes rebel groups as terrorists.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said that Syria had committed a "blatant violation" of a 1974 ceasefire agreement, which defines the lines of separation between the two sides' forces on the Golan Heights.

"We will not accept any intrusion... into our territory, either from the ground or from the air," Mr Netanyahu said, adding: "Our forces acted appropriately."

Image copyright Reuters/Russian Federation Image caption Israel said the jet was a Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet - a version of which is pictured here

Israel's Haaretz news website said residents in northern Israel saw interceptor missiles fired and heard explosions.

Flames and smoke were also later seen rising from the area of the fence between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, AFP news agency reports.

Hotting up

By Tom Bateman, Middle East correspondent, Jerusalem

Today's trails of smoke above the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights are another sign of how Syria's war has agitated the dynamics between old foes in the region.

Israel and Syria fought their last war 45 years ago and later agreed to separate their forces either side of a 50-mile-long buffer zone - a boundary that had remained Israel's quietest since.

But with President Assad's men closing in on jihadist groups on the Syrian side of the zone - and pictured reportedly hundreds of metres from an Israeli observation post - Israel has been ratcheting up its rhetoric.

It is concerned most about the threat it sees from Syria's allies Iran and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, saying it will not tolerate any breach of the buffer zone deal.

But Syria will see the Sukhoi's downing as proof of its belief that Israel has been prepared to help rebel groups to stop the government's advances.

In a statement after the incident, the IDF said it was on "high alert" following "an increase in the internal fighting in Syria" and greater activity by Syria's air force in the region.

It said the fighter jet had infiltrated about 2km (1.25 miles) into Israeli airspace before it was intercepted by Patriot missiles.

An Israeli military spokesman said the plane had crashed "most likely in the southern part of the Syrian Golan Heights". About a third of the Golan Heights is still nominally controlled by Syria.

Israel considers the occupied Golan Heights, and the airspace above it, as Israeli sovereign territory, though this is not recognised internationally. It has occupied the area since the 1967 Middle East war.

It is reportedly the first time Israel has shot down a manned Syrian aircraft since 2014. Israel is not directly involved in the Syrian war but has attacked drones which have entered its airspace, and carried out dozens of air strikes on Syrian and Iranian military assets in Syria in recent years.

Tuesday's incident comes just a day after Israel deployed its David's Sling missile defence system - designed for use against medium-range missiles - for the first time.

The system was activated "in response to the threat" from two Syrian surface-to-surface missiles approaching Israeli territory, an army statement said.

Correction 26 July 2018: The headline of this article has been amended to more clearly reflect the IDF's statement regarding the incident.</s>BEIRUT -- Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet it said had breached its airspace on Tuesday, as Syrian forces reached the Golan Heights frontier for the first time in seven years. The Israeli military said it monitored the advance of the Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet and shot it down with a pair of Patriot missiles after it penetrated Israeli airspace by about 1.2 miles.

Syrian forces have been battling rebels and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants at the frontier with Israel in recent weeks.

Tuesday marked the first time government forces reached the border fence with the U.N.'s Disengagement Observer Force at the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

It was the first time Israel shot down a Syrian jet in four years.
• None U.S. helps evacuate hundreds of White Helmets rescuers from Syria 



Israel's military said there had been an increase in internal fighting in Syria since the morning hours, including intensified activity by the Syrian Air 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.

The camera showed an Israeli post 440 yards away.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. The U.N. deployed a peacekeeping force between the two sides in 1974.

It is the first time government forces have taken up positions along the frontier since an uprising against President Bashar Assad swept through the country in 2011. ISIS militants later seized territory from rebels along the frontier region.</s>JERUSALEM
• Israel said it shot down a Syrian warplane that crossed into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights yesterday, but Damascus said the jet was fired on as it took part in operations against rebels on Syrian territory.

The incident added new fuel to weeks of tensions over the Golan, a strategic plateau between the two old enemies and where Israel has been on high alert as Syrian government forces, supported by Russia, close in to regain rebel-held ground.

For the second time in as many days, Israeli sirens sounded on the Golan and witnesses saw the contrails of two missiles flying skyward.

The military said it fired Patriot interceptor missiles at a Syrian Sukhoi jet that crossed 2km into Israeli-controlled airspace, after first trying to warn it off.

"It was shot down and crashed, most likely in the southern part of the Syrian Golan Heights," Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said. "We do not have any information so far about the pilots. We do not know of any reports of parachutes being spotted and if any pilots have been retrieved."

Syrian state media said, however, that the warplane had been targeted by Israel and hit while conducting raids in Syrian airspace.

"The Israeli enemy confirms its support for the armed terrorist groups and targets one of our warplanes, which was striking groups on the edge of the Yarmouk Basin in Syrian airspace," the official news agency Sana quoted a military source as saying.

An Israeli military statement appeared to acknowledge that its mission was related to the civil war next door. "Since morning, there has been an increase in the internal fighting in Syria, including an increase in the activity of the Syrian Air Force," it said.

It added that Israel would "continue to operate against" any breach of a 1974 United Nations armistice deal that established buffer zones on the Golan.

Israel worries that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad might try to defy the demilitarisation regime or allow his Iranian and Lebanese Hizbollah reinforcements to deploy near the Golan.

The raised Israeli-Syrian tensions have prompted intercession by Moscow, which sent its foreign minister and top general on Monday for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli officials said Mr Netanyahu rebuffed as insufficient a Russian offer to keep Iranian forces 100km from the Golan lines.</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 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>Pro-Syrian regime forces carried out multiple airstrikes against Islamic State positions in the Golan Heights on Saturday, July 21, according to pro-regime media and the Jerusalem Post. The Syrian Army had been advancing towards the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, reportedly closing in on the last of the remaining towns in Daraa governorate on Thursday following an offensive in June. Rebels also began to evacuate areas of neighboring Quneitra governorate on Saturday after reaching a deal with Russian officers that would allow those not willing to live under state rule to leave, according to Reuters. This footage was shot from Israel, looking towards the Golan Heights, by Jerusalem Post journalist Seth J. Frantzman. It shows plumes of smoke rising in the distance. Frantzman reported that around 30 strikes were heard in the space of three hours. Credit: Seth J. Frantzman via Storyful

ISRAEL shot down a Syrian fighter jet it said had breached its airspace on Tuesday, as Syrian forces reached the Golan Heights frontier for the first time in seven years.

The Israeli military said it monitored the advance of the Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet and shot it down with a pair of Patriot missiles after it penetrated Israeli airspace by about two kilometres.

Syrian forces have been battling rebels and Islamic State militants at the frontier with Israel in recent weeks.

Tuesday marked the first time government forces reached the border fence with the UN’s Disengagement Observer Force at the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

It was the first time Israel shot down a Syrian jet in four years.

Israel’s military said there had been an increase in internal fighting in Syria since the morning hours, including intensified activity by the Syrian Air Force.

Minutes before the reported shootdown, Syria’s state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV was broadcasting footage from the fence demarcating the UN buffer zone between Syrian and Israeli forces inside the Golan Heights.

A UN observer post could be seen just on the other side of the fence.

The camera showed an Israeli post 400 metres away.

Israel seized 1200 square kilometres of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six Day war, in a move never recognised internationally.

The UN deployed a peacekeeping force between the two sides in 1974.

It is the first time government forces have taken up positions along the frontier since an uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad swept through the country in 2011.

Islamic State militants later seized territory from rebels along the frontier region.

Tuesday’s incident comes a day after Israel’s air defences fired at Syrian rockets it feared could hit its territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss the Syrian conflict.

Israel has been on high alert since June 19, when Syrian government forces launched the Russia-backed offensive to retake Quneitra and Daraa and provinces, adjacent respectively to the Israeli-held section of the Golan and to Jordan</s>JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet Tuesday over the northern part of the country.

The Israel Defense Forces said two Patriot missiles were launched at a Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet after it infiltrated about two kilometers (one mile) into Israeli airspace.

IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said the plane flew toward Israel at "relatively high speed" before it breached Israeli territory. He said they did not know if it had deliberately crossed into Israel. The plane crashed on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.

The Associated Press quoted Conricus saying that increased military activity near Israel's border on the Golan Heights had put the military on "elevated alert" and prompted Israel to issue a number of warnings through different channels against any violation of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement. That agreement delineated a demilitarized zone along the Israeli-Syrian frontier.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces "acted appropriately."

 

 "Our air defense systems identified a Syrian Air Force jet that took off from the T-4 Syrian Air Force base and penetrated Israeli airspace. This is a gross violation of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement with Syria. I have reiterated and made clear that we will not accept any such violation. We will not accept any such penetration of, or spillover into, our territory, neither on the ground nor in the air. Our forces acted appropriately. We insist that the Syrians strictly abide by the Separation of Forces Agreement between us and them," Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.

Israel captured the Golan Heights during of the 1967 Six-Day War. In 1974, the UN deployed peacekeepers between the two sides there. Many of them were relocated to the Israeli side of the border during the last seven years of fighting in Syria.

Earlier, Syrian state media said government forces had captured territory from rebels and Islamic State terrorists, reaching the frontier on the Golan Heights.

That's the first time that government forces have reached the Israeli border since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad began in 2011.

On Monday, Israel used its David's Sling anti-missile battery to intercept two SS-21 Tochka tactical ballistic missiles fired from Syria as part of the internal fighting. The projectiles landed inside Syria.

It was the first time that Israel used David's Sling, designed to intercept medium-range missiles.</s>Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet that it said had breached its airspace on Tuesday. The incident came as advancing Syrian government forces retaking territory from rebels reached the Golan Heights frontier for the first time in seven years.

The Israeli military said it monitored the advance of the Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet and shot it down with a pair of Patriot missiles after it penetrated Israeli airspace by about 2 kilometres (1.2 miles).

Syria’s military, however, said one of its jets was targeted by Israel over Syrian territory as it flew sorties against Islamic State militants.

Syrian forces have been battling rebels and IS militants at the frontier with Israel for weeks in a campaign to restore President Bashar al-Assad’s rule over southwestern Syria.

On Tuesday, government forces reached the border fence where a UN peacekeeping force is deployed at the edge of Golan Heights, which is internationally recognised as Syrian land under illegal occupation by Israel. It was the first time Syrian government had managed to retake the area since 2011, when an uprising swept through Syria against Assad.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. The UN deployed peacekeepers between the two sides in 1974.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the breach of Israeli territory a “gross violation” of a 1974 agreement that established the demilitarised zone between Israel and Syria.

Syria blames US planes for attack that killed 28 civilians

“I have reiterated and made clear that we will not accept any such violation. We will not accept any such penetration of or spillover into our territory, neither on the ground nor from the air,” he said in a statement.

Israel’s military has been on “elevated alert” along the frontier because of activity on the Syrian side of the fence, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus. Israel has warned Syria through various channels not to violate the 1974 agreement, he added.

The plane flew toward Israel at “relatively high speed” before breaching the country’s airspace, said Conricus. He said it was unknown if the plane deliberately crossed into Israel.

The plane crashed in the southern part of the Syrian Golan Heights, he said. Israel had no reports on the condition of the pilot. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said one pilot was killed and that the condition of the other was unknown.

An official based in Syria and allied with government forces said Islamic State militants have seized the body of the downed pilot. He did not elaborate. The fate of the other pilot remains unknown, said the official.

At the United Nations, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said that Israel seeks “no escalation in the region” and that the military acted only after the Syrian aircraft entered Israeli airspace.

The Israeli military tried to contact the plane’s pilot several times but there was no response and its only option was “to protect our civilians”, Danon told reporters.</s>BEIRUT — Israel said it shot down a Syrian warplane that crossed into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, but Damascus said the jet was fired on as it took part in operations against rebels on Syrian territory.

The incident — the first time Israel has shot down a Syrian jet in four years — added new fuel to weeks of tensions in the Golan as Russian-backed forces close in on ground held by rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

The Israeli military said it monitored the advance of the Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet and shot it down with a pair of Patriot missiles after it penetrated Israeli airspace by about 1.2 miles.

"It was shot down and it crashed...most likely in the southern part of the Syrian Golan Heights," Israeli military spokesman Lt.-Col. Jonathan Conricus said. "We do not have any information so far about the pilots. I do not know of any reports of parachutes being spotted, and we do not know if any pilots have been retrieved."

Tuesday marked the first time Syrian government forces reached the border fence with the U.N.'s Disengagement Observer Force at the edge of the Golan Heights. While Israel maintains it is not involved in internal Syrian affairs and will follow a policy of non-interference, it has been watching closely as Syrian forces battle rebels and Islamic State militants next door.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. The U.N. deployed a peacekeeping force between the two sides in 1974.

Syrian state media contradicted Israeli version of events, and reported that a Syrian warplane had been targeted by Israel and hit while conducting raids in Syrian airspace.

"The Israeli enemy confirms its support for the armed terrorist groups and targets one of our warplanes, which was striking their groups in the area of Saida on the edge of the Yarmouk Basin in Syrian airspace," the official news agency SANA quoted a military source as saying.

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.

The camera showed an Israeli post 440 yards away.

Retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Yossi Kupperwasser said Israel was anxious to not become embroiled in the Syrian conflict.

"Israel is not specifically targeted, these are events that have to do with the ongoing war in Syria," he told journalists. "But the war is now focused on the area close to the border, which is why we see more activity that may threaten Israel."

It is the first time government forces have taken up positions along the frontier since an uprising against Assad swept through the country in 2011. Islamic State militants later seized territory from rebels along the frontier region.</s>Sign up for one of our email newsletters.

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet it said had breached its airspace on Tuesday while advancing Syrian government forces retaking territory from rebels reached the Golan Heights frontier for the first time in seven years.

The Israeli military said it monitored the advance of the Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet and shot it down with a pair of Patriot missiles after it penetrated Israeli airspace by about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles).

Syria’s military, however, said one of its jets was targeted by Israel over Syrian territory as it flew sorties against Islamic State militants.

Syrian forces have been battling rebels and IS militants at the frontier with Israel for weeks in a campaign to restore President Bashar Assad’s rule over southwestern Syria.

On Tuesday, government forces reached the border fence where a U.N. peacekeeping force is deployed at the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It was the first time Syrian government had managed to retake the area since 2011, when an uprising swept through Syria against Assad.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. The U.N. deployed peacekeepers between the two sides in 1974.

Israel’s military has been on “elevated alert” along the frontier because of activity on the Syrian side of the fence, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus. Israel has warned Syria through various channels not to violate the 1974 agreement that established the demilitarized zone, he added.

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

The camera showed an Israeli post 400 meters (440 yards) away.

Israel’s military said the Syrian jet took off from the T4 air base, which Israel is believed to have attacked earlier this year.

The plane flew toward Israel at “relatively high speed” before breaching the country’s airspace, said Conricus. He said it was unknown if the plane deliberately crossed into Israel.

The plane crashed in the southern part of the Syrian Golan Heights, he said. Israel had no reports on the condition of the pilot.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said one pilot was killed and that the condition of the other was unknown.

Syrian rebels surrendered their last pockets in the southwestern Quneitra and Daraa provinces last week, leading thousands of opposition fighters, their families and other civilians to evacuate to the rebel-held province of Idlib in northern Syria.

According to the Observatory, some 9,500 people have been bused from southwest Syria to Idlib. It is unlikely they will be able to return to their homes in the near-term. The U.N. has condemned such arrangements as forced displacement, a war crime.

Over the weekend, rescuers from the Syrian Civil Defense — also known as White Helmets — and their family members were evacuated through Israel to Jordan, after they were promised asylum in Canada and European nations.

The White Helmets have been a target of the Syrian government, which accuses them of staging poison gas attacks and participating in terrorism, claims which have not been proven.
The Israel Defense Forces shoot down a Syrian Air Force jet near the Golan Heights after it reportedly crosses into the UNDOF zone near Israeli border.