Israel’s military said it had shot down a Syrian fighter jet over the Golan Heights on Tuesday - in recent weeks the scene of fierce clashes between the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

The IDF said the plane, a Russian-made Sukhoi-24 fighter jet which is one of the Syrian Air Force’s primary attack aircraft, was 800 metres inside Israeli airspace before it was shot down using a patriot missile.

The crew managed to eject in time and landed in Syrian territory, an Israeli official said.

Syria confirmed the plane was shot down near Quneitra, close to the Israel-Syria border.
Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines of Syria's civil war raging across the border, but Israeli leaders appear increasingly nervous about the possibility of al Qaeda-linked fighters occupying the Golan's high ground in the north of the country.

Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said the aircraft had crossed into Israel in a “threatening way” and vowed to retaliate to any similar attempts in the future.

“We’ve clarified this in the past and we’re emphasising it again now: We won’t allow anybody, whether it’s a state or a terrorist organisation, 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.”

Israel not taken sides in Syrian conflict

“We are committed first and foremost to ensure the security of the Israel's citizens and we will use all means at our disposal to do so,'' he added.

Israel has avoided taking sides in the three-year civil war in Syria, though Israeli troops have responded to occasional mortar fire that has landed in Israeli territory. Israel says some of the attacks have been accidental spillover, while others have been intentionally aimed at Israeli civilians and soldiers.

Israel has always held Syria responsible for any cross-border fire.

Israel and Syria are bitter enemies who have fought several wars. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed the strategic area in a move that has never been internationally recognised.

While relations are hostile, the ruling Assad family in Syria has kept the border area with Israel quiet for most of the past 40 years. Israel is concerned that Assad's ouster could push the country into the hands of Islamic State extremists or other al Qaeda linked militants, or plunge the region further into sectarian warfare.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)