Israeli Military Deploys Anti-Missile Systems In Syria

A day after Israeli military lost its F-16 fighter jet following a significant confrontation between the Jewish state and Syrian forces, Israel has reportedly deployed anti-missile systems to the Syrian border on Sunday.

The Jerusalem Post on Sunday cited witnesses as saying that they had seen convoys of "missile defense batteries" north-bound near the city of Baka al-Gharbiya. It said others had posted photos of "trucks carrying the batteries on central highways in northern Israel".

Israel’s air defenses currently include the Iron Dome, designed to shoot down short-range rockets; the Arrow system, which intercepts ballistic missiles outside of the Earth’s atmosphere; and the David’s Sling missile-defense system, which is designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, medium- to long-range rockets and cruise missiles fired from ranges of between 40 km to 300 km. It also has Patriot-missile batteries stationed in the North and has used them to intercept drones infiltrating into Israeli airspace from Syria. 

Early on Saturday morning, reportedly eight Israeli warplanes were deployed to target positions inside Syria. The Syrian military, which has previously absorbed occasional Israeli strikes, activated its air defense systems and shot down at least one Israeli F-16.

It’s the first time in years that enemy weaponry brought down an Israeli jet.