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Syria claims shooting down Israeli warplane

There is no indication the fire is directly targeting Israel or that the IDF plans on changing tactics on retaliating exclusively against Syrian government forces.

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“By this way, Assad wraps up the first round of talks in the new era between Israel and Syria…”

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

The incident occured as Israel struck Syrian military targets for fourth time in two weeks after stray mortar fire struck the Golan Heights.

There was no immediate report of an Israeli response. “We will not tolerate any attempt to undermine Israeli sovereignty or compromise the Israeli public’s safety”, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement. “Nothing true about what they claim”, military spokesman Arye Shalicar said Tuesday.

Since the start of the Syrian conflict, mortar shells have exploded periodically inside Israeli territory, causing damage but no injuries.

Following the Israeli airstrikes, SANA, a Syrian state run media agency, reported that the Syrian military had shot down a IDF fighter jet.

An Israeli military spokeswoman told AFP Monday’s projectile was most likely not intentional, rather spillover from “internal fighting in Syria”.

Israel’s army said Tuesday that Syria launched missiles toward Israeli war jets but missed, denying Syrian claims on downing an Israeli military drone.

The Golan Heights was occupied during the 1967 Middle East war and formally annexed by Israel in 1981 in a move that was never recognized internationally.

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On Monday evening, Syrian fire crossed into the northern Golan Heights as a nationwide ceasefire brokered by the USA and Russian Federation came into effect in the embattled country.

Israel targets Syrian positions after bomb lands in Golan-army