Israel says it shot at Syrian fighter jet that infiltrated its airspace

Israeli forces on Tuesday said it had fired at a Syrian fighter jet with surface-to-air missiles after the plane infiltrated its airspace over the occupied Golan Heights. 

"Two Patriot missiles were launched at a Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet that infiltrated into Israeli airspace," Israeli forces said in a statement.

It was the first time Israel had shot at a manned Syrian fighter jet since 2014 and is the second such incident along the border in 30 years.

The pilot was found dead at the crash site.

The Syrian regime responded by saying that Israel had targeted the warplane which was in Syrian airspace.

The warplane was hit and crashed on the Syrian-held side of the Golan Heights.

"It was shot down and it crashed," Israeli forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus said.

Conricus added that the plane was flying towards Israel at "relatively high speed" before breaching the country's airspace. He said it was unknown if the plane deliberately crossed into Israel. 

He confirmed that the plane was Syrian, not Russian.

Israel says there has been an increase in assaults in southern Syria by the regime.

The Israeli Ambassador to the UN said Israel “seeks no escalation in the region” and says any other country would do the same to protect their civilians, stating the intentions of the Syrian fighter jet were unknown.

For more than a week, Syrian regime forces have been on an offensive against Daesh-linked militants in southern Syria near occupied Golan Heights.

Israel has been on high alert since June 19, when Syrian regime forces launched the Russia-backed offensive to retake Quneitra and Daraa and provinces, adjacent to the Israeli-held section of the Golan Heights and Jordan.

Conricus said the increased activity near Israel's frontier with Syria put the military on "elevated alert" and prompted Israel to issue a number of warnings through different channels to ensure the 1974 agreement which sets out a demilitarised zone along the shared Syria-Israel frontier would not be violated. 

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. 

The UN deployed a peacekeeping force between the two sides in 1974.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel took 'appropriate' action because Syria breached the 1974 agreement that created buffer zones on the Golan Heights and insisted Syria to honour the agreement.