Israel’s army said Tuesday that Syria launched missiles toward Israeli war jets but missed, denying Syrian claims on downing an Israeli military drone.
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The Israeli Defense Forces said Syria fired two missiles, but that its aircraft “were not harmed”.
“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.
The IDF frequently retaliates by firing at the source of the shells.
Israel has regularly bombed Syrian territory during the course of its long civil war after fighting in Syria spilled onto the Israeli border.
It accused Israeli forces of supporting “armed terrorist groups” in the country’s south. “At no point was the safety of [Israeli military] aircraft compromised”, it said.
Israel’s airstrike came hours into a nationwide ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russian Federation.
Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 Six-Day War and later occupied it in a move that has never been recognized by the worldwide community.
The mortars landed in Israel hours after a cease fire in Syria’s 5-year-old civil war was supposed to take effect.
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 worldwide community.
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Last week, the IDF stated that it holds the regime “accountable for this blatant breach of Israeli sovereignty”, referring to the projectile strikes, and claimed, “the IDF will continue to act in order to safeguard Israel and its civilians”.
