Israel denies claim plane shot down over Syria

Syria earlier said it had shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone in Syria after an Israeli attack on a Syrian army position in southern Syria.
           
SANA news agency said the warplane had attacked an army position at 1am in the southern Quneitra countryside. It and a drone were then shot down, SANA said.
          
The Israeli military, however, said two missiles were fired but missed its aircraft.

Earlier, it said Israeli aircraft struck Syrian army positions early this morning after a stray fire hit the Israeli-held zone of the Golan Heights the previous day.

The Israeli strike targeted "artillery positions of Syrian Regime in the central Syrian Golan Heights" in response to "a projectile" which yesterday had hit the northern Golan causing no injuries, an army statement said.

A spokeswoman told AFP yesterday's projectile was most likely not intentional, rather spillover from "internal fighting in Syria".

It was the fourth such incident in nine days and came as a new Syrian ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States came into force.

The initial 48-hour truce does not apply to areas held by jihadists such as the so-called Islamic State group.

The Israeli army holds the Syrian government accountable for any fire from its territory, regardless of its source.

There were similar events in July and previously.

Israel has sought to avoid being drawn into Syria's complex war which is now in its sixth year, but it has attacked Syrian military targets when fire from the conflict spills over.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.
 

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