Israel denies one of its fighter jets was downed

By Mustafa Deveci

JERUSALEM

The Israeli military denied reports that one of its fighter jets had been shot down Thursday in Syria.

"The news about an aircraft belonging to the Israeli military being hit by Syrian air defense systems is false," the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

Syrian and Russian media reported earlier that the Bashar al-Assad regime’s air defense systems had neutralized some targets that were conducting airstrikes in the country’s south.

Some social media accounts close to the Assad regime claimed that an Israeli fighter jet had been downed.

In recent months, Israel has carried out a number of military operations inside Syrian territory targeting Syrian and Iranian military sites.