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Syria shoots down Israeli warplane

The fire exchange was the fifth such incident occurred over the past two weeks, but it was the first time the Syrian army responded with missiles to the Israeli retaliation.

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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 overnight airstrike came after a Syrian mortar, apparently a spillover from the fighting in Syria, exploded in an open field in the Golan Heights.

The Israeli mission had been conducted to strike Syrian regime targets after a projectile launched from Syria had struck the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

It was the fourth such incident in nine days, and came as a new Syrian ceasefire brokered by Russian Federation and the United States came into force yesterday.

The previous retaliation for errant fire took place on Saturday when Israeli aircraft struck Syrian positions. The Syrian government routinely describes its opponents-armed and otherwise-as terrorists.

Israel Defense Forces has rejected Syrian claims that its military destroyed an Israeli warplane and drone early Tuesday near Golan Heights.

The IDF is also widely believed to have carried out airstrikes on arms shipments destined for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a close ally of Assad.

However, the Israeli army has denied the reports, saying Syrian forces fired two land-air missiles but that these did not hit any aircraft.

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Israel had repeatedly declared it would not intervene in the internal fighting in Syria.

Israel strikes positions in Syrian Golan Heights Army