The Israeli military on Tuesday shot down a Syrian aircraft that had infiltrated its airspace over the Golan Heights.
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A defense official identified the plane as a Syrian MIG fighter jet, according to the 'Associated Press'. The jet was toppled over the Syrian side of the Quneitra border, after it had flown 800 meters west of the border into Israel and turned around, Israel's 'Haaretz' newspaper reported. The decision to down the jet was made after 1:20 minutes of flight; when a Patriot missile hit the plane.
The two pilots had apparently managed to operate their ejection seats within that timeframe. It marked the first time since the Lebanon War in the 1980s that Israel's Air force toppled a Syrian aircraft.
srael 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 over northern Israel.
