Syria yesterday said it had opened fire on Israeli aircraft after they crossed into Syrian airspace, broke the sound barrier and "dropped ammunition" over the desert.
The claim comes after several months of shifting and sometimes tense relations between Israel and Syria.
A Syrian military spokesman was quoted on the state news agency as saying that shortly after midnight the Israeli aircraft had crossed into north-east Syria from the Mediterranean, close to the Turkish border. Reports said the incident happened near al-Abyad, close to the border.
"Air defence units confronted them and forced them to leave after they dropped some ammunition in deserted areas without causing any human or material damage," the spokesman said. "We warn the Israeli enemy government against this flagrant aggressive act, and retain the right to respond in an appropriate way."
It was not clear exactly what the aircraft had dropped and the Syrian news agency did not say any targets had been hit.
"We are a sovereign country. They cannot do that," said Buthaina Shaaban, a Syrian cabinet minister.
The Israeli military said it had no comment on the incident. "We cannot discuss military operations," a spokesman said. In Washington, a White House spokesman also declined to comment.
Israeli aircraft frequently fly over Lebanon, sometimes breaking the sound barrier, and operate on training missions in Turkey. But flights over Syria are less commonly acknowledged, although Israeli aircraft flew into Syrian airspace last summer, after the capture of an Israeli soldier near Gaza, and again at the start of the war with Hizbullah in Lebanon.
Israel's military does monitor activities near the Golan Heights, but yesterday's incident occurred a considerable distance away.
Israel's border with Syria has been its quietest in the past 30 years and it emerged earlier this year that secret peace talks had been held between some Israelis and the Syrian government over the previous two years to draw up a formal peace treaty, although they eventually broke up without success.
Since then the Israeli press has repeatedly forecast a brewing conflict with Syria, although that prompted both Israeli and Syrian officials to say publicly they do not intend to go to war. Israel said it had begun to reduce troop levels near the Golan Heights, captured from Syria during the 1967 war and later annexed to Israel.
Siria ha disparado a aviones de combate israelíes luego de que el país declarara que los aviones entraron en territorio sirio "tirando municiones" y viajando a la velocidad del sonido.

"Unidades de defensa aérea los confrontaron y forzaron a irse luego de que tirara municiones en áreas desérticas sin causar daños humanos o materiales. Advertimos al gobierno enemigo israelí contra este flagrante acto de agresividad, y retenemos el derecho de responder en un modo apropiado", dijo un portavoz de la fuerza militar siria.

Israel no ha negado y tomado responsabilidad por los reportes, simplemente declarando que "no podemos discutir operaciones militares".

Israel, en el pasado, volaba sobre Líbano y Turquía para llevar a cabo ejercicios de entrenamiento y han viajado algunas veces a la velocidad del sonido. El último avión de combate israelí que voló sobre Siria fue en 2006 luego de que un soldado israelí fuera secuestrado. También voló sobre el país justo antes de que comenzara el conflicto armado con Líbano.

Siria además dijo que ningún blanco fue dañado y que nadie fue herido en el incidente.