Israel shoots down Syrian jet as Bashar al-Assad’s forces reach Golan Heights
Syrian forces have been battling rebels and IS militants at the frontier with Israel for weeks
Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet that it said had breached its airspace on Tuesday. The incident came as advancing Syrian government forces retaking territory from rebels reached the Golan Heights frontier for the first time in seven years.
The Israeli military said it monitored the advance of the Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet and shot it down with a pair of Patriot missiles after it penetrated Israeli airspace by about 2 kilometres (1.2 miles).
Syria’s military, however, said one of its jets was targeted by Israel over Syrian territory as it flew sorties against Islamic State militants.
Syrian forces have been battling rebels and IS militants at the frontier with Israel for weeks in a campaign to restore President Bashar al-Assad’s rule over southwestern Syria.
On Tuesday, government forces reached the border fence where a UN peacekeeping force is deployed at the edge of Golan Heights, which is internationally recognised as Syrian land under illegal occupation by Israel. It was the first time Syrian government had managed to retake the area since 2011, when an uprising swept through Syria against Assad.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. The UN deployed peacekeepers between the two sides in 1974.