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Israeli air defenses successfully intercepted a drone launched from Syrian territory, the Israeli army claimed Wednesday.
Before the alleged drone was shot down, air-raid sirens were reportedly sounded in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights region.
In a statement, the army said that the drone -- which was reportedly downed by a Patriot missile -- had originated “from Syrian territory”.
Notably, the alleged incident coincided with the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Moscow, where he is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In earlier statements, Netanyahu had said that his meeting with Putin would focus on Syria and Iran’s military presence in that country.
Israeli air defence sirens sounded on Wednesday on the Golan Heights frontier with Syria and the nearby Jordanian border, the Israeli military said.The military, which has been on high alert as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces advance against rebels near the Golan and Jordan, did not say what triggered the sirens. Israel's Channel 10 TV said Israel launched a Patriot interceptor missile, but it did not disclose the target.Israeli army detains 12 Palestinians in West Bank raidsIsrael releases seven passengers of Gaza flotilla
Israeli sirens sound over Golan frontier with Syria, Jordan: Israeli military
A top adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed his country's "strategic relationship" with Russia on Wednesday during a visit to Moscow, part of a diplomatic offensive by Tehran as it braces for renewed U.S. sanctions.Ali Akbar Velayati, who is due to meet President Vladimir Putin, also took a swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump, saying his "unreliable" actions made Tehran's close ties with Moscow all the more necessary.The United States pulled out of a multinational deal in May to lift sanctions against Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear programme. Washington says it will reimpose sanctions and has told other countries to halt all imports of Iranian oil from Nov. 4 or face U.S. financial measures."The relationship between Iran and the Russian Federation is a strategic relationship and in recent years the collective bilaterial and regional relations have expanded," Iran's ISNA news agency quoted Velayati as saying on arrival in Moscow.He said he would deliver messages to Putin from Iran's Supreme Leader and President Hassan Rouhani and that they would discuss the "very sensitive" global situation.Velayati cited Russian and Iranian cooperation in Syria, where they both support President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the seven-year Syrian civil war against what the Iranian official called "terrorism and its sponsors"."Only a strategic and long-term relationship (with Russia) can continue this cooperation," said Velayati, who was also due to meet Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak in Moscow.Velayati described Trump as an "unreliable individual... with relation to international law who necessitates more and more cooperation (between Iran and Russia)".Nuclear DealA U.S. State Department official said this month that Washington's goal was to get as many countries as possible down to zero Iranian oil imports. However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday the United States might consider requests from some countries to be exempted from sanctions.Apart from the United States, the other signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal - Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain - have said they still support the accord.But European firms are reluctant to risk far-reaching U.S. financial penalties they would face for doing business in Iran.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who views Iran as Israel's arch-enemy and strongly backs Trump's decision to quit the nuclear deal, was also visiting Moscow on Wednesday.Asked about Netanyahu's visit, Velayati said: "His presence or absence in Russia has no effect on our strategic mission in Moscow."Israel is concerned that Iran is establishing a military presence in neighbouring Syria and it has attacked Iranian targets there.Velayati is also expected to visit China in the near future, Iran's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Iran Supreme Leader's aide, in Moscow, hails 'strategic' ties with Russia
A Hamas delegation set out for Cairo from the blockaded Gaza Strip on Wednesday to hold talks with Egyptian officials.The delegation is being led by Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s deputy leader in Gaza.According to group spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, delegation members will meet with Egyptian officials to discuss “bilateral relations and recent developments in the Palestinian and Arab arenas”.Egypt recently invited leaders of the Gaza-based resistance group to Cairo to discuss prospects for inter-Palestinian reconciliation and ongoing tensions along the Gaza-Israel security fence.At least 137 Gazan protesters have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire since Mar. 30, when Palestinians began holding mass rallies along the security fence.Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has brought the coastal territory -- along with its roughly two million inhabitants -- to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe.Israeli navy intercepts humanitarian flotilla from GazaUN envoy urges Israel to reverse Gaza sanctionsFresh Israeli sanctions on Gaza go into force
Hamas delegation heads from Gaza to Cairo for talks