Israel searches the Sea of Galilee for a rocket launched from Syria

The Golan has seen days of bombing as Russian-backed Syrian government forces advance on rebel-held positions near the 1974 ceasefire line with Israel.

Israeli police searched the Sea of Galilee for a rocket launched from Syria that may have landed in the lake on Wednesday, a spokesman said.

After air raid sirens sounded in the south of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the army said a rocket had been spotted launching from Syria towards Israel. It appeared to be a stray fire from fighting inside Syria.

Israelis on the eastern shore of the fresh-water lake said they heard explosions as an object landed in the water, but Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that nothing had been found during initial searches.

"As I was watching the water, I saw something fall in. I didn't see what it was but I saw the spray from the impact," Hasdia Rada, a lifeguard at one of the lake's beaches told Israeli commercial TV news. Another man said he heard a whistling sound before an impact.

There have been many instances of stray fire landing on the Israeli side of the rocky Golan plateau during years of fighting between Syrian rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, but a rocket flying between 7-10 kilometers (4-6 miles) into the lake is thought to be the farthest yet.

Tensions rose a day earlier after Israel said it shot down a Syrian warplane that had crossed into the airspace above the Israeli-occupied Golan. However Syrian state media said the plane was targeted by Israel while it was conducting raids in the Syrian-controlled airspace.

The Golan has seen days of bombing as Russian-backed Syrian government forces advance on rebel-held positions near the 1974 ceasefire line with Israel. The holdouts include one pocket near the frontier held by a group affiliated to the Islamic State.

Israel worries that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may defy a U.N. armistice that demilitarised much of the Golan or allow Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces to deploy there once he and his allies retake the Syrian side.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)