Sirens sounded across the Israeli side of the Golan Heights frontier on Wednesday as the IDF tracked and destroyed a drone that was approaching from Syria.
The sirens sounded in areas near the borders with Syria and in the Jordan Valley on Wednesday afternoon.
The IDF said the drone "infiltrated the Israeli border from Syria" and was tracked until it was destroyed. It flew over Jordan before flying six miles within Israeli territory, the IDF said.
"The IDF will not allow any violation of Israeli airspace and will act against attempt to hurt its civilians," they tweeted.
The UAV infiltrated the Israeli border from Syria. The Patriot aerial defense system identified the threat and tracked it until its interception. The IDF will not allow any violation of Israeli airspace and will act against any attempt to hurt its civilians. Details to follow.
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 11, 2018
Footage shared on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon showed a single white exhaust trail in the cloudless skies over the Golan Heights.
Rocket trail seen in skies over #Israel as sirens are heard in the Golan Heights and Jordan Valley @i24NEWS_EN pic.twitter.com/E8A3qnyk73
— Shai Ben-ari (@ShaiBenari) July 11, 2018
“After we closely monitored the UAV and ensured that all the necessary conditions were met, we decided to intercept it with one Patriot missile,” said Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, the IDF's head of the international and social media branch.
The IDF tweeted footage of the rocket being shot down.
Footage of the Patriot missile intercepting the Syrian UAV that infiltrated Israeli territory today pic.twitter.com/g5MnjZLdyl
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 11, 2018
A correspondent for i24News said this was a rocket trail, but this has not been confirmed by the military.
The IDF deployed reinforcements to the Golan last week following reports of forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad closing on rebel fighters in the Syrian region near the Israeli border.
