The sound of sirens in the Jordan valley mixed with explosions Thursday night as the IAF conducted airstrikes in Syria. The Syrian army claimed it shot down one Israeli jet in the incident, and damaged another, but the IDF denied the claim.
The Syrian army released a statement saying that four Israeli jets conducted an airstrike, and they responded with anti-aircraft missiles. The Syrian army released a statement in the state news agency SANA.
“Our air defense engaged them and shot down one warplane over occupied territory, hit another one, and forced the rest to flee.”
In the statement, the IDF said that its aircraft targeted several targets in Syria. “Several antiaircraft missiles were launched from Syria following the mission and IDF Aerial Defense Systems intercepted one of the missiles. At no point was the safety of Israeli civilians or the IAF aircraft compromised.”
Israeli Arrow air-defense missiles responded, taking down the Syrian missile. No Israeli planes were hit. Though the IDF did not comment on the sites targeted by the airstrike, in the past, Israel has responded to spillover from battles in Syria that endangered settlements in the Golan. The IDF has also destroyed weapons convoys on their way from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah s allied with Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
Overnight, IAF aircrafts struck several targets in Syria and were fired upon by anti-aircraft missiles. pic.twitter.com/Woodc8Pd7w
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) March 17, 2017
