Footage claiming to show two Syrian pilots parachuting to the ground from their plane after it was shot down by an Israeli missile has emerged.

The image, published by the Syrian Revolution Coordinators Union, appears to show two people in the sky near Kanaker, a Syrian town near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Fighting from the Syrian Civil War has spilled over into the area before and the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have not confirmed what the aircraft was doing.

A spokesperson said it was shot down in Israeli airspace shortly after 7.50am on Tuesday after being “intercepted” by the Patriot air defence system.

It is designed to stop planes and missiles, tracking them with radar and exploding them as they enter Israeli territory.

“The circumstances of the incident are being reviewed,” he added.

Syrian state television confirmed that Israel downed one of its fighter planes and the Israeli defence minister Moshe Ya’alon told Bloomberg TV the jet had acted in a “threatening manner”.

The IDF provided no information on whether contact was made to ascertain why the plane was there, saying it was "identified while attempting to infiltrate Israeli air space" and "successfully hit" with a Patriot missile fired by the Israel Air Force.

In a blog post about the incident, the IDF said the border near the Golan Heights had become "highly unstable" in recent months as the conflict continues in Syria.

A spokesperson said IDF positions were hit by "errant fire" from Syria which wounded a soldier and projectiles have landed in its territory.