Israel shoots down Syrian fighter jet for the second time since 1985

Stephane Dujarric, an official spokesman for the UN Secretary General, stated that the UN was monitoring the situation around the Sukhoi fighter jet of the Syrian Air Force that Israel shot down on July 24. For the time being, the official said, the UN does not have all the details of the ongoing military operation.

Photo: Source: Mil.ru

He also stressed that the UN was monitoring the situation around the downed Syrian fighter aircraft.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident is a "gross violation" of the agreements on separation between Israel and Syria from 1974.

On July 24, Israel fired two Patriot missiles to intercept the Su-22 airplane of the Syrian Air Force, after it entered approximately two kilometers into Israel's airspace. The aircraft was shot down; the pilot was killed. Nothing has been reported yet about the fate of the second pilot. The killed pilot was identified as Omran Murai, a Colonel of the Syrian Air Force.

According to the Haaretz, the Israeli army was monitoring the flight of the Syrian fighter jet. Syria's state-run news agency SANA said that the Israeli army attacked the Syrian aircraft as it was flying above the Syrian province of Daraa. Damascus declares that Israel thus acted in support of terrorists.

5 Photo Sukhoi fighter jets

The head of the press service of the Israeli Defense Army, Brigadier General Ronen Manelis said that the downed plane took off from T-4 airbase and was approaching the Israeli border. The IDF repeatedly warned the pilot in different languages, the official said adding that Israel was coordinating its actions with the Russian military in Syria before the command for interception was given.

Spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces, Jonathan Konricus, said that Israel knew that it was shooting down a Syrian, but not a Russian aircraft.

Syrian opposition media reported that the downed plane crashed in southern Syria, in an area controlled by anti-Assad militants, possibly ISIL* terrorists.

The Haaretz newspaper wrote that it was the second time since 1985, when the Israeli Air Force shot down a Syrian fighter aircraft. In 2014, the IDF shot down, according to unconfirmed reports,  either a MiG-21 or a Su-24 in the Quneitra area on the Golan Heights. Israel controls the territory of the Golan Heights, but Syria also claims its rights for the region. Then, two Syrian pilots of the downed aircraft catapulted and landed on the territory of Syria.

*ISIL is a terrorist organization banned in Russia