A man sits on an old tank as he watches fighting taking place in Syria as seen from the Israeli side of the border fence between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights September 11, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said its aircraft attacked a Syrian army position on Tuesday after a stray mortar bomb struck the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, and it denied a Syrian statement that a warplane and drone were shot down.

The air strike was a now-routine Israeli response to the occasional spillover from fighting in a five-year-old civil war, and across Syria a ceasefire was holding at the start of its second day.

Syria’s army command said in a statement that Israeli warplanes had attacked an army position at 1 a.m. on Tuesday (2200 GMT, Monday) in the countryside of Quneitra province.

The Israeli military said its aircraft attacked targets in Syria hours after the mortar bomb from fighting among factions in Syria struck the Golan Heights. Israel captured the plateau from Syria in a 1967 war.

Related Coverage Israeli military denies any of its aircraft shot down in Syria

The Syrian army said it had shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone after the Israeli attack.

Denying any of its aircraft had been lost, the Israeli military said in a statement: “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 seven-day truce in Syria, brokered by Russia and the United States, is their second attempt this year by to halt the bloodshed.</s>Story highlights Syria claims it shot down an Israeli warplane and drone near Israeli border Tuesday

But Israel says none of its aircraft were struck, calling the claim "completely false"

(CNN) The Israel Defense Forces have rejected Syrian military claims to have downed an Israeli warplane and drone over southwest Syria Tuesday morning as "completely false."

The General Command of the Syrian Armed Forces said in a statement that the incident occurred at 1:30 am local time Tuesday (6:30 p.m. ET Monday), after Israeli warplanes attacked a Syrian army position in al-Quneitra, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights .

The statement said that Syrian air defense shot down a warplane southwest of al-Quneitra, and a drone west of the town of SaaSaa.

But the IDF spokesman's office called the claims "total lies."

Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said that "overnight two surface-to-air missiles were launched from Syria after the mission overnight to target Syrian artillery positions. At no point was the safety of IDF aircraft compromised."

Read More</s>Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) - The UN's Syria envoy on Tuesday applauded a "significant drop" in violence through the first 24 hours of a fragile ceasefire but said security concerns meant aid convoys stayed on hold.

The truce brokered by Russia and the United States began at sundown on Monday, in the latest bid to end a conflict that has killed more than 300,000 people since March 2011.

The agreement aims to bring an end to fighting between President Bashar al-Assad's loyalists and a wide range of rebels but excludes jihadist forces like the Islamic State (IS) group.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said reports reaching his office indicated "a significant drop in violence", in a rare respite in Syria's devastating conflict.

De Mistura noted isolated reports of conflict persisted, especially on Monday night, but that by sunrise on Tuesday the broad picture was positive.

The envoy said he had "no information about any UN trucks moving at this stage", demanding "assurances that the drivers and the convoy will be unhindered and untouched".

In second city Aleppo, AFP correspondents in both the rebel-held east and the government-held west reported nearly 24 hours had passed without air strikes or rocket fire.

AFP correspondents in government-held Damascus and its rebel-controlled suburbs reported quiet too, with residents taking advantage of the lull in violence to mark the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported minor violations by both government and rebel forces in different parts of the country, but no deaths.

However, the truce did not prevent heavy fighting between regime forces and the jihadist Jund al-Aqsa faction in Hama province of central Syria, the monitoring group said.

Damascus accused the opposition of a series of violations, with its ally Moscow saying Syrian government forces were fully respecting the truce but that rebels had violated it 23 times.

"Syrian government troops have completely stopped firing" except in jihadist-held areas, but "the same cannot be said for armed units of the moderate opposition controlled by the US", said Viktor Poznikhir, a senior Russian military officer.

- 'We could sleep' -

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US Secretary of State John Kerry had said earlier that it was "far too early to draw conclusions" about the success of the ceasefire but urged all sides to seize the opportunity.

"For all the doubts that remain, and there will be challenges in the days to come, this plan has a chance to work," he said of the deal he agreed on Friday with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

"I urge all the parties to support it because it may be the last chance that one has to save a united Syria."

The lull in violence was a rare respite for residents of the war-ravaged country, where more than half the population has been displaced and hundreds of thousands live under siege.

"We usually stay up all night with the airplanes, but thank God last night we could all sleep," said activist Hassan Abu Nuh in opposition-held Talbisseh in central Syria.

It was also quiet in the largely rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, where air strikes killed 13 people only hours before the truce.

In rebel-held eastern Aleppo, children laughed as they ran through the streets, some playing football under a destroyed bridge.

"The truce is good, but it's not enough. We want food to come in," said resident Abu Jamil.

In the government-held west of the city, Habib Badr was enjoying the silence.

"My house is near the Razi hospital and I'm used to hearing ambulance sirens every two or three hours. I haven't heard anything this morning," he said.

The deal is the latest in a succession of attempts to end the fighting in Syria.

It calls for the truce to be renewed every 48 hours, and immediate humanitarian aid access, particularly to civilians living under siege.

By Tuesday afternoon, there were no signs aid had begun moving into those areas, including eastern Aleppo which is surrounded by government troops.

Damascus warned, meanwhile, that all aid going to Aleppo, particularly assistance sent by Turkey, must be coordinated with it and the United Nations.

- Opposition sceptical -

Russia said its troops had been deployed on the key Castello Road running from Turkey into Aleppo that is to become a demilitarised zone under the deal.

If the ceasefire holds for a week, Moscow and Washington will then begin an unprecedented joint campaign to target jihadists, including IS and former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fatah al-Sham Front.

Russia said De Mistura could invite government and opposition representatives to new peace talks "at the very beginning of October".

But there is still deep scepticism about whether the truce will last, with the opposition yet to officially sign on.

A crucial part of the deal calls on non-jihadist rebels to break ranks with Fateh al-Sham ahead of joint US-Russian operations against the group.

But many Islamist rebel groups cooperate closely with Fateh al-Sham, and the biggest of them -- the powerful Ahrar al-Sham group -- has criticised the terms of the Russian-US deal.

Damascus and its allies have backed the truce, but on Monday Assad said his regime remained "determined to recover every area from the terrorists".</s>Israel said its aircraft attacked a Syrian army position on Tuesday after a stray mortar bomb struck the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, and it denied a Syrian statement that a warplane and drone were shot down.

The air strike was a now-routine Israeli response to the occasional spillover from fighting in a five-year-old civil war, and across Syria a ceasefire was holding at the start of its second day.

Syria’s army command said in a statement that Israeli warplanes had attacked an army position at 1am on Tuesday (2200 GMT, Monday) in the countryside of Quneitra province.

The Israeli military said its aircraft attacked targets in Syria hours after the mortar bomb from fighting among factions in Syria struck the Golan Heights. Israel captured the plateau from Syria in a 1967 war.

The Syrian army said it had shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone after the Israeli attack.

Denying any of its aircraft had been lost, the Israeli military said in a statement: “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 seven-day truce in Syria, brokered by Russia and the United States, is their second attempt this year by to halt the bloodshed.</s>The General Command of the Syrian Armed Forces said in a statement that the incident occurred at 1:30 am local time Tuesday (6:30 p.m. ET Monday), after Israeli warplanes attacked a Syrian army position in al-Quneitra, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights .

The statement said that Syrian air defense shot down a warplane southwest of al-Quneitra, and a drone west of the town of SaaSaa.

But the IDF spokesman's office called the claims "total lies."

Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said that "overnight two surface-to-air missiles were launched from Syria after the mission overnight to target Syrian artillery positions. At no point was the safety of IDF aircraft compromised."

The Israeli mission had been conducted to strike Syrian regime targets after a projectile launched from Syria had struck the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. No casualties had resulted from the Syrian strike on the Golan Heights, the IDF said. The Golan has been repeatedly struck with projectiles fired from across the border in southwest Syria, as fighting in the country's five-year civil war drags on. Last week, three projectiles landed in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights The Israeli strike on Syria came hours after a nationwide ceasefire , brokered by the United States and Russia, came into effect in the war-ravaged country. Syria ceasefire: What you need to know Syria: Will ceasefire hold in first 24 hours? In the first 24 hours of the deal, the second concerted attempt this year to halt the grinding civil war, the peace appeared to be holding, although a monitoring group reported a number of violations in and around Aleppo in its early hours. Israel seized parts of the Golan Heights, a strategic, rocky plateau to its northeast, from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War. An Israeli tank in the Golan Heights near the Quneitra crossing with Syria in July. The international community considers the Golan Heights to be occupied territory and Israeli settlement-building there to be illegal. Syria wants the return of the territory that UN peacekeeping forces have monitored for decades.</s>Syrian army says it shot down Israeli warplane, drone

Syria's military said it shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone early Tuesday 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 two surface-to-air missiles were launched from Syria after the (Israeli) mission overnight to target Syrian artillery positions," military spokesman Arye Shalicar said.

"At no point was the safety of (Israeli) aircraft compromised. Nothing true about what they claim."

The Israeli military earlier said it targeted Syrian army positions after stray fire from its war-torn neighbour hit the Israeli-held zone of the Golan Heights on Monday.

An Israeli military spokeswoman told AFP Monday's projectile was most likely not intentional, rather 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.</s>JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military struck artillery positions in Syria on Tuesday after a projectile from that country’s civil war hit the Israeli-controlled part of the Golan Heights, but denied a Syrian claim that Syrian forces shot down two Israeli aircraft.

The incident was the fifth case since last week in which fighting in Syria has spilled over into Israel, and the first since a U.S.-Russia brokered truce went into effect at sunset on Monday to try and end the civil war, now in its sixth year.

Israel has largely remained on the sidelines of the fighting, but has carried out reprisals on Syrian positions when errant fire previously landed in Israel.

Shortly after the air raid, Syria’s armed forces claimed to have shot down an Israeli warplane and an unmanned drone along the frontier.

The Israeli military quickly denied the report, saying that a pair of surface-to-air missiles were fired at its aircraft but missed. “At no point was the safety of IDF (Israel Defense Forces) aircraft compromised,” it said.

Israeli warplanes have conducted several raids on Syrian army positions over the past weeks after stray shells hit the Israeli-controlled Golan. Israel is also widely believed to have carried out airstrikes on arms shipments said to be destined for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a close ally of the Syrian government.

Later on Tuesday, the Israeli military said another “projectile” fired from Syria hit the Golan Heights, causing no injuries. It would not elaborate further.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and the two countries have technically been in a state of war for decades.</s>Fire from Syria hit the Israeli-held zone of the Golan Heights on Wednesday, the military said, the latest in a string of incidents ratcheting up tension between the uneasy neighbours.

"Earlier today a projectile fired from Syria hit the northern Israeli Golan Heights," an army statement said.

"No injuries have been reported."

There was no immediate report of an Israeli response.

On Tuesday Israeli aircraft struck Syrian army positions after stray fire from Syria's war hit the Israeli-occupied zone.

Syria said it had shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone, a claim denied by Israel.

The uptick comes as a new Syrian ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States came into force on Monday.

The truce does not apply to areas held by jihadists such as the Islamic State group.

The Israeli army holds the Syrian government accountable for any fire from its territory, regardless of its source.

There were similar events in July and previously.

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.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.</s>Syrian army says it shot down Israeli warplane and a drone - state media

BEIRUT, Sept 13 (Reuters) - The Syrian army said on Tuesday it had shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone in Syria after an Israeli attack on a Syrian army position in southern Syria, state media reported.

SANA news agency said the warplane had attacked an army position at 1 a.m. on Tuesday in the southern Quneitra countryside. It and a drone were then shot down.

The Israeli military was not immediately able to comment. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Dominic Evans)</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.
Syria reports its air defense shot down an Israeli warplane that attacked a Syrian army position in al-Quneitra, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Israel Defense Forces say that missiles were fired at their aircraft but none hit.