The Israeli Army said it had shot down a Russian-made Syrian drone carrying out a reconnaissance mission over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday.
The drone was intercepted by a Patriot missile in the demilitarised zone between the Israeli-and Syrian-controlled parts of the Golan, a military spokeswoman said in a statement.
“The State of Israel regards with utmost seriousness any violation of its sovereignty and will respond with force to any provocation,” Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement. “We will not allow the consolidation of a Shia axis in Syria” as a base for operations against Israel, he added, referring to the presence of Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the war-torn neighbouring country.
Israel seized 1,200 square km of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it.
In September, Israel’s military shot down what it said was an Iranian-made drone operated by Hezbollah on a reconnaissance mission over the Golan.
