Israel Says Shot Down Drone from Syria over Occupied Golan
Israel downed a drone over the occupied Golan Heights on Sunday, the army said, amid mounting tension on the U.N.-patrolled armistice line with Syria on the strategic plateau.
Air defenses "successfully intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that breached Israel airspace above the border with Syria," an Israeli army statement said.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon meanwhile toured the region, as the army sent reinforcements along the armistice line and deployed armored troop carriers, an Agence France-Presse photographer said.
Yaalon warned that Israeli "tolerance" should not be tested.
"These past weeks we have proven that our tolerance is minimal when our integrity is struck, either intentionally or unintentionally," he said.
Heavy fighting between Syrian government troops and opposition forces flowed into the buffer zone separating Syrian and Israeli-occupied territory at the weekend.
Dozens of Filipino U.N. peacekeepers escaped the hot zone overnight after rebels rammed their Golan Heights outpost with armed trucks, the Philippine military said.
Israel seized 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) of the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War of 1967, then annexed it in 1981 in a move never recognized by the international community.
The U.N. Disengagement Observer Force has been monitoring the ceasefire since 1974.
Source: Agence France Presse
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