The IDF shot down a Syrian fighter plane over the Israeli Golan Heights Tuesday using a Patriot missile, the army said.
The army said the plane had infiltrated Israeli airspace before it was shot down.
The plane was initially reported to have been a Russian-made MiG-21 fighter jet, but an IDF spokesperson later confirmed that it was a Russian-made Sukhoi-24 fighter jet.
The Su-24, a Cold War-era Soviet fighter, is one of the Syrian Air Force’s primary aircraft. A recent estimate by FlightGlobal.com said the SAF operated 19 Su-24 attack planes.
Iraqi Air Force Su-24 (photo credit: CC BY-SA Shahram Sharifi, Wikimedia Commons)
Syria confirmed the plane was hit and downed near Quneitra, near the Israel-Syria border, “in the framework of (Israel’s) support for the terrorist (Islamic State) and the Nusra Front,” Reuters reported.
A defense official said the Syrian jet penetrated 800 meters (2,600 feet) into Israeli air space and tried to return to Syria after the Patriot missile was fired.
The crew managed to abandon the plane in time and landed in Syrian territory, the Israeli official said.
It was the first such incident since the war with Lebanon in 1982, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Other military officials said it was the first such incident since 1985.
A video posted online Tuesday by the rebel-affiliated Syrian Media Organization claimed to show the jet being downed. It was impossible to immediately confirm the veracity of the video.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Tuesday in response to the incident that the Syrian plane approached Israeli territory in a “threatening manner” and crossed the border.
“We’ve clarified this in the past and we’re emphasizing it again now: We won’t allow anybody, whether it’s a state or a terrorist organization, to threaten our security and violate our sovereignty,” the defense minister and former IDF chief of staff said. “We will respond forcefully to all attempts of this kind, whether it’s an accident or intentional.”
Unconfirmed photos uploaded to Twitter by a Syrian opposition group claimed to show the downing of the aircraft near the border with Israel.
@DanWilliams here it is: pic.twitter.com/PTaLzWXbiD
— orit perlov (@oritperlov) September 23, 2014
The army shot down an unmanned Syrian aircraft August 31 as it flew near Quneitra, the Syrian town that has been the stage for fighting between rebels and regime forces for the past month.
Shells from Syria have landed sporadically on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights for the past several weeks as Syrian regime forces and rebel factions battle for the Quneitra crossing, with the rebels reportedly gaining control of almost the entire Syrian border with Israel.
Meanwhile, UN peacekeepers have largely evacuated their Syrian position, moving most of their equipment and personnel from Camp Faouar, their main headquarters in Syria, to Israel.
Times of Israel staff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
