JERUSALEM — Israel targeted Syrian military positions early Thursday after an unmanned drone entered its airspace from the neighboring country the previous day, the military said.
The military said it struck three Syrian posts “in response to the infiltration of the Syrian UAV.”
Syrian state media said Israeli jets fired on military positions in the southwestern Quneitra province, inflicting material damage. The province borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
On Wednesday, Israel fired a Patriot missile and took down the unmanned drone shortly after it infiltrated Israeli airspace. There were no reports of injuries over the drone's incursion.
That incident came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Syria and Iran.
RELATED
Russia has been Syrian President Bashar Assad's key ally in the Syrian civil war.
Israel's main concern is to keep archenemy Iran, also an Assad ally, as far away from its border as possible — along with its proxy, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Israel has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to establish a permanent military presence on its doorstep in neighboring Syria.
The military said it will "continue to operate determinedly and decisively against any attempt to breach Israeli sovereignty and will act against any attempt to hurt its civilians.
Last month, Israel fired a missile at a drone that approached its airspace near the Syrian frontier, and in February Israel shot down what it said was an Iranian drone that entered its airspace. It bombed Iranian targets in Syria in response to that incident.
