Israeli officials called this “total lies”, insisting that the Syrian Army fired two surface-to-air missiles during the Israeli air raid, but that the missiles were “nowhere near” where the plane was, and never endangered it.
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A military source stated that the mortar fire was likely accidental spillover from battles between Assad regime forces and rebels in Syria’s civil war. The incident marks the third day in a row that the IDF has had to contend with mortar fire from Syria.
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.
Israeli soldiers and peacekeepers of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) (2nd from L) monitor the border with Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights on September 13, 2016.
“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.
“At no point was the safety of (Israeli) aircraft compromised”.
On Monday evening, Syrian fire crossed into the northern Golan Heights as a nationwide ceasefire brokered by the U.S. and Russian Federation came into effect in the embattled country.
Since the start of the Syrian conflict, mortar shells have exploded periodically inside Israeli territory, causing damage but no injuries.
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The IDF has said that it holds the Syrian regime, led by President Bashar al-Assad, responsible for any aggression coming from its territory.
