Israel slaps down Syrian claim over downed jet

Corrections & clarifications: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized how long Israel and Syria have technically been in a state of war.  

Israel's military denied a Syrian claim Tuesday that one of its fighter planes was shot down by President Bashar Assad's forces.

Syria's state-backed Sana news agency reported it shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone after Israel attacked a military position in southern Syria.

But Israeli Defense Forces said that none of its fighter jets were downed and that the two surface-to-air missiles missed their targets. The IDF said it fired at targets near the Syrian border with the Golan Heights after a projectile landed in Israeli territory

The incident is the fifth exchange of fire between Israel and Syria since last week and comes as a United States-Russia brokered Syrian cease-fire deal appeared to be holding a day after it came into force.

Kerry urges support for Syria cease-fire

The truce aimed at bringing at least a temporary halt to Syria's five-and-a-half-year war began after sundown on Monday. Witnesses told the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based monitoring group, that no civilian deaths were recorded in the first 15 hours after the agreement came into effect.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War.