Israel fires missiles, 'intercepts' Syrian warplane after intense fighting

Reuters

Israeli soldiers stand in front of the launcher of an Iron Dome missile interceptor battery in the southern Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon.

• Israel's military said on Tuesday that it fired two US-made Patriot missiles at a Syrian Sukhoi fighter that entered its airspace and "intercepted" the plane.
• It's unclear whether or not the Israeli missiles downed the plane, or if the Israeli Defense Forces had intercepted the jet in the usual way, which is to confront it with other jets and coerce it to fly away.
• For weeks rockets fired from Syria and elsewhere outside Israel have peppered the country and activated its missile defenses on multiple occasions.

Israel's military said on Tuesday that it fired two US-made Patriot missiles at a Syrian Sukhoi fighter that entered its airspace and "intercepted" the plane.

It's unclear whether or not the Israeli missiles downed the plane, or if the Israeli Defense Forces had intercepted the jet in the usual way, which is to confront it with other jets and coerce it to fly away.

For weeks rockets fired from Syria and elsewhere outside Israel have peppered the country and activated its missile defenses on multiple occasions.

Israel and Syria have a border dispute in the Golan Heights, and have squared off in aerial combat before, with Israel notably destroying much of their anti-air batteries and losing one of its own F-16s.

The IDF said the Russian-made Syrian jet "infiltrated about 1 mile into Israeli airspace" before being intercepted.

"Since this morning, there has been an increase in the internal fighting in Syria and the Syrian Air Force's activity.

The IDF is in high alert and will continue to operate against the violation of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement," the IDF continued, referencing the UN resolution that put an end to the Yom Kippur war between Israel and Syria.