Israel Shoots Down Syrian Fighter Jet Entering Israeli Airspace
Patriot Missile Image by Wikimedia Commons
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel fired two Patriot missiles at a Syrian fighter jet that penetrated more than a mile into Israeli airspace.
The plane, a Russian-made Sukhoi model fighter jet, was shot down on Tuesday afternoon, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
It was not immediately confirmed if the jet’s two pilots ejected before it was hit. The plane reportedly crashed into the Yarmouk area in Syria after it was hit.
The IDF said that the plane was under surveillance as it approached and breached the border.
The IDF also said that since Tuesday morning there had been an increase in fighting in Syria near the border with Israel and that there had been an increase in the Syrian Air Forces’ activity.
“The IDF is on high alert and will continue to operate against the violation of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement,” the agreement on disengagement between Israel and Syria following the Yom Kippur War, the IDF Spokesman’s Unit said.
Syria’s official state-run SANA news agency cited an unnamed military source as saying that the warplane had been hitting rebel targets in the area of Sidon on the outskirts of the Yarmouk valley in Syrian airspace when Israel struck it. “The Israeli enemy confirms its adoption of the armed terrorist groups and targets one of our warplanes,” the military source told SANA.
On Monday, Israel for the first time fired the David’s Sling missile defense system, following the launch of two Syrian surface-to-surface missiles that appeared likely to land in Israel.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Ben-Gvir says he met with 4 members of Congress, rebuffed protesters at US Capitol
-
Fast Forward Nike apologizes for marathon ad using the Holocaust phrase ‘Never Again’
-
Fast Forward Ohio Applebee’s defaced with antisemitic graffiti reading ‘Jews work here’
-
Fast Forward J.B. Pritzker accuses Trump of ‘disparaging the very foundation of Judaism’
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 2
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
- 3
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 4
Fast Forward Columbia staff receive texts asking if they’re Jewish, as government hunts antisemitic harassment on campus
In Case You Missed It
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.