Israeli army shoots down rocket fired from Syrian territory

Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system on Saturday destroyed a rocket fired from Syria at the Israeli-held zone of the Golan Heights amid an apparent uptick in tension between the uneasy neighbours.

"A projectile fired from Syria was intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defence system. No injuries have been reported," a military statement said.

A spokesperson could not immediately say whether it was the first time Iron Dome had seen action on the Golan, but it was a departure from recent tit-for-tat artillery fire and occasional retaliatory air strikes.

Israeli public radio said the military believed that the Syrian fire was an unintentional spillover from the country's complex civil war, which is now in its sixth year.

Israel has sought to avoid being drawn into the conflict, but it has attacked Syrian military targets when fire fell on its side of the divide and has provided medical treatment to injured rebel fighters.

On Tuesday, Israeli aircraft targeted Syrian army positions after what the military said was probably stray fire hit the Israeli-occupied zone.

Syria said it had shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone earlier this week, a claim denied by Israel.

The increased tension comes after a new Syrian ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States came into force last Sunday night.

The truce does not apply to areas held by hardline militant groups like the Islamic State group and former al-Qaeda affiliate Fatah al-Sham.

The Israeli army holds the Syrian government accountable for any fire from its territory, regardless of the source.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres of the Golan from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.