Breaking: Israel military shoots down Syrian fighter Jet

The Israeli military says it has shot down a Syrian aircraft that infiltrated its airspace over the Golan Heights.

The military says a "Syrian aircraft infiltrated into Israeli air space" on Tuesday morning. It says the military "intercepted the aircraft in mid-flight, using the Patriot air defense system."

The military wouldn't say what type of aircraft was downed and says the circumstances of the incident are "unclear."

A defense official identified the downed aircraft as a Sukhoi Su-24 Russian fighter plane. Perviously, it was reported to have been a MiG aircraft. He said the Syrian jet penetrated 800 meters (2,600 feet) into Israeli air space and tried to return to Syria after the Patriot missile was fired.

Read more The Syrian government confirmed that Israel shot down one of its planes

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said the aircraft had crossed into Israel in a "threatening way" and vowed to retaliate to any similar attempts in the future.

"We will not allow element, whether it is a terror group or a state, to threaten our security and breach our sovereignty," he said. "We are committed first and foremost to ensure the security of the Israel's citizens and we will use all means at our disposal to do so," he said.

Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines of Syria's civil war raging across the border. But Israeli leaders appear increasingly nervous about the possibility of al-Qaida-linked fighters occupying the Golan's high ground over northern Israel.

Original source