By Anees Barghouthy
JERUSALEM
The Israeli army has shot down a Syrian fighter jet over the Israeli-occupied section of the Golan Heights.
"The Syrian jet was successfully intercepted by our aerial defense system," the Israeli army said in a statement on Tuesday.
According to the release, the Syrian plane penetrated the Israeli airspace for a few hundred meters before turning back, at which point it was hit by a patriot missile.
The Israeli army radio said the plane was a MiG-21.
Late last month, the Israeli army brought down a Syrian drone near Quneitra terminal, the only border crossing between Syria and the Israeli-occupied section of the Golan Heights.
Around two thirds of Golan Heights were occupied by Israel during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
In 1981, the self-proclaimed Jewish state formally annexed the territory.
The region is inhabited by a small Syrian Druze community of roughly 20,000.
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