Israel has fired interceptor missiles at a Syrian Sukhoi warplane, the IDF said in a statement, adding that the aircraft had penetrated Israeli-controlled airspace.

“Two Patriot missiles were launched at a Sukhoi fighter plane. The plane was under [Israeli] surveillance, it penetrated about two kilometers into Israeli territory and was intercepted,” the Israel Defense Forces wrote on Twitter.

Two Patriot missiles were launched at a Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet that infiltrated about 1 mile into Israeli airspace. The IDF monitored the fighter jet, which was then intercepted by the Patriot missiles. pic.twitter.com/owL4Pm7zER — IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 24, 2018

Israeli Army Radio stated that the plane was shot down over the Golan Heights, but may have crashed on the Syrian-held side of the frontier, Reuters reports.

Meanwhile, local residents in northern Israel told Haaretz that they saw interceptor missiles being fired from the area of Safed city.

According to Syrian state news agency Sana, the aircraft was conducting raids in Syrian airspace when it was intercepted by Israeli forces. “The Israeli enemy confirms its support for the armed terrorist groups and targets one of our warplanes, which was striking their groups in the area of Saida on the edge of the Yarmouk Valley in Syrian airspace,” Sana reported, citing an unnamed military source.

Earlier in July, Israel struck Syrian Army positions near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, in what the IDF called a retaliation for an earlier drone infiltration. Noting that the Israeli military is prepared for many different scenarios, the army stressed that it holds the Syrian government “accountable for the actions carried out in its territory and warns it from further action against Israeli forces.”

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