JERUSALEM 

For the second time this week, the Israeli military claimed to have shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle, which, it alleged, had been launched from Syrian territory.

The army issued a similar claim on Wednesday, saying in a statement that it had successfully shot down a drone over the occupied Golan Heights region.

Notably, Wednesday's alleged incident coincided with a meeting in Moscow between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Israel has reportedly asked Moscow to ensure that Iranian forces now deployed in Syria maintain a distance of at least 80 kilometers from the Israel-Syria border.

On Friday, however, the Israeli press reported that Moscow had turned down the request.