The Israel military has said it fired a Patriot missile at a drone coming from Syria.
A drone, or UAV, “infiltrated the Israeli border from Syria,” prompting Israel to activate its Patriot missile defense system, according to the Israeli Defense Force.
“The IDF will not allow any violation of Israeli airspace and will act against any attempt to hurt its civilians,” the IDF added.
Rocket sirens triggered in the Golan Heights and Jordan Valley, the IDF said.
According to Haaretz, the drone was tracked after it went about 6 miles into Israeli territory. It was shot down over the Sea of Galilee.
On Sunday, Syria accused Israel of attacking an air force base near Homs that was known to be housing Iranian forces.
According to state-run SANA, “Syrian air forces intercepted an Israeli aggression and downed a number of missiles which were targeting T-4 airport in Homs.”
The agency said that Syrian forces “hit one of the attacking warplanes and forced the others to leave the airspaces (sic).”
Other reports, including one from the AFP news agency, indicated that the Israeli airstrikes hit the base. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the agency that “Iranian and pro-regime fighters” were killed at the base.
Israel has been on high alert as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces advance on rebels near the Golan Heights and Jordan. Israel worries that he could deploy troops or allow his Iranian and Hezbollah allies to set up emplacements near Israeli lines, Reuters noted.
