The Israel Air Force sent fighter jets to the Israeli-Syrian border Thursday afternoon, after Syrian aircraft were detected on radar screens flying over the area near the Syrian part of the border.
After determining that the Syrian aircraft were not engaged in hostile activity, the IAF warplanes proceeded to return to their base safely. Tens of thousands of hikers visiting the Golan Heights at the time of the incident were not evacuated.
| On Yom Kippur |
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| IAF sends fighter jets after Syrian aircraft / Hanan Greenberg |
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Jets sent out in search of aircraft after it disappeared from IDF radar. Aircraft found crashed on Syrian side of the border, not believed to have been on hostile mission |
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Sending IAF jets after abnormal aerial activity over Israel's border is a standard operating procedure in the IDF.
Last Saturday, during the holyday of Yom Kippur, the IDF sent IAF fighter jets after a Syrian aircraft that disappeared from IDF radar. According to IDF sources, the Syrian aircraft was later found on the Syrian side of the border, after it had crashed.
The IAF jets found no evidence of the aircraft attempting an attack and proceeded to return from their mission safely. Sending IAF jets after unidentified aircraft which fall off the radar is a standard method of operation in the IDF, the sources said.
On Sunday, roadblocks were set up in the southern Golan Heights for fear that an unidentified person had infiltrated Israel
from Syria.
The nearby communities were informed about the incident, but shortly afterwards it was determined that no infiltration took place. The IDF's Spokesperson's Office said in response that this was not an unusual incident.
The recent incidents were the height of the recent tensions between Israel and Syria, following Israel's reported breach of Syrian airspace
a few weeks ago and Syrian President Bashar Assad's statements regarding "the option of war".
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