Israel fires missile at drone near Syria border

The Israeli military says it fired a Patriot missile at an unmanned aircraft that approached its airspace near the Syrian frontier in the occupied Golan Heights.

The army said on Sunday that the missile did not hit the drone, and the aircraft "retreated from the border."

It was not immediately clear who launched the drone, but in February Israel shot down what it said was an Iranian drone that entered its airspace. It bombed Iranian targets in Syria in response.

Syrian troops have launched an offensive against rebel forces in south-western Syria, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Israel has expressed concerns about Iranian troops supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces, and says it will not allow a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria.

Israeli seized a large swathe of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, in a move never recognised by the international community.