Israel shoots down a Syrian fighter plane over its airspace

Israel said it shot down a Syrian fighter on Tuesday after entering Israeli airspace as fighting in the Syrian civil war moved a few hundred meters from the Golan Heights.

It was the first time in four years that Israel had shot down a Syrian fighter and stressed the risk that the conflict would degenerate into a wider conflagration. The Syrian regime is continuing its mbadive offensive to retake rebel and ISIS-controlled areas in southwestern Syria bordering the occupied Golan Heights.

Israel stated that two Patriot missiles had been fired at the Sukhoi jet after the plane flew about 2 km inside the Israeli airspace. The Israeli army said that it was unclear whether the warplane had lost its way into the Israeli airspace involuntarily.

Sana, the Syrian news agency, said that the plane was raiding Isis in Syria and had not entered Israeli territory.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said that the fighter plane had taken off from T-4 Air Base in Homs Province and had been crushed on the Syrian side of the border,

This is because it violated our airspace and that is why it was intercepted, "said Lieutenant-Colonel Conricus. Israel has used several channels to warn the regime to avoid Israeli airspace, including an emergency line between Tel Aviv and a Russian base in Syria, he added.

Russia is one of the main foreign supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Israel has strongly engaged with Moscow to support its top priorities related to the seven-year war in Syria.

Israel and Syria have been in an official state of war since 1948. Both nations agreed to an armistice line after a separation of forces agreement followed by the UN which formally put an end to the Arab-Israeli war of 1973.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intensified in recent weeks his lobbying on Moscow to ensure that the Assad regime's forces remain behind this line, which was largely abandoned during the Syrian civil conflict while the rebels were settling in the area.

He is also seeking Moscow's support in his efforts to have the Iranian forces retreat at least 80 to 100 kilometers from the border. Iranian and Russian support turned the war in favor of Assad, but he also brought Iranian forces and Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese movement, closer to Israel's northern border.

Israel responded with dozens of targeted air strikes aimed at paralyzing Iran's infrastructure and preventing any transfer of sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah.

"We will do all that is necessary so that Iran does not turn Syria into a second Iran close to Israel," said retired Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwbader, former director general from the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs. "But yesterday and today we have seen the potential for misunderstanding along the border – this highlights the threats that are rooted in this situation."

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Sirens of air raids sounded Tuesday on the Golan Heights. Israel on Monday used a new weapons system to prevent Syria 's stray missiles from landing in the interior of Israel and to place its land and air forces in a state of readiness. increased alert.

In February, Israel shot down an Iranian drone packed with explosives after it entered Israeli airspace. An Israeli plane was shot down by a Syrian anti-aircraft fire during an airstrike retaliation on the T-4 base.

In May, Israel launched a series of air strikes against Iranian military means in Syria after a barrage of rockets was fired at the Golan Heights. Sana, the official Syrian news agency, quoted an anonymous Syrian military official saying that Israel was supporting the terrorists "by targeting one of our fighter jets that was attacking their bastions [Isis]".