Haaretz:
Israel’s Patriot missile defense system has shot down a drone on the border with Syria on Saturday, Israel’s military has reported. The intercepted drone reportedly belonged to the Assad regime and was on an intelligence gathering mission in the Quneitra area of the border. The drone then entered the demilitarized zone and flew towards Israel before being shot down.
Israel’s military is reported to have made contact with Russian counterparts operating over the border in order to verify that the drone did not belong to the Russian military. It was only after receiving confirmation that it was not a Russian operated drone that the military took the decision to shoot it down.
“The State of Israel views with great severity any violation of sovereignty and will respond with force to any provocation,” Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Leiberman said following the incident…