Syria’s military claims it has shot down an Israeli warplane and drone in al-Quneitra in southwest Syria early Tuesday morning, according to a statement by the General Command of the Syrian Armed Forces.
The statement said Israeli warplanes attacked a Syrian army position in al-Quneitra. It said that Syrian air defense shot down a warplane southwest of al-Quneitra, near the Golan Heights, and shot down a drone west of the town of SaaSaa.
The statement says the incident occurred at 1:30 am local time Tuesday (6:30pm ET Monday).
But Israel Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner denied that a warplane was shot down.
He said that “overnight two surface-to-air missiles were launched from Syria after the mission overnight to target Syrian artillery positions. At no point was the safety of IDF aircraft compromised.”
It remains unclear if the IDF is also denying that a drone may have been shot down.
On Monday, an official IDF Twitter account reported that “Earlier today, a projectile launched from #Syria, hit the northern Israeli Golan Heights. No injuries have been reported.”
Last week, three projectiles landed in the Israeli occupied Golan from Syria, indicating the fighting near al-Quneitra has intensified.
