The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) shot down a Syrian drone that entered Israeli airspace on Wednesday, using a Patriot missile to intercept the drone over the Sea of Galilee.
In response to the drone infiltration, Israel’s military struck three Syrian positions in the positions in the southern Golan Heights. According to Syrian media reports, Hezbollah positions were hit in the Quneitra province of Syria, in the Syrian Golan Heights.
According to the IDF, the Syrian drone was flown into Israel through Jordan. After 16 minutes, a Patriot anti-aircraft missile was fired at the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), shooting it down over the Sea of Galilee.
Incoming missile sirens were triggered by the Patriot missile interception in the Golan Heights and Jordan Valley.
According to IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus, the drone did not appear to have been armed and was more likely intelligence-gathering aircraft of Syrian origin: “Our current understanding was that it was an unarmed Syrian UAV. It appears to have been on an intelligence collection mission” he said, noting that the military was still investigating the incident.
The incident took place as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow to stress to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel will not tolerate an Iranian military presence in Syria – the third meeting between the two leaders in the last six months.
The Israeli Defence Forces said additional efforts were needed to ensure that the drone was in fact flown by an enemy nation and not by Russia whose air force has been flying extensive missions over southern Syria to support Bashar Assad’s offensive against two rebel-held provinces in the area.
Wednesday’s incident came just over two weeks after the IDF launched a Patriot interceptor missile at a drone that was heading toward Israeli airspace from Syria.
