Israeli Warplanes Enter Syrian Territory

Is this an example of the Israeli government flexing its muscles in the light of a massive arms deal with America? From Haaretz:

The Syrian army said Thursday that its air defenses fired on an Israel Air Force warplane that entered Syria airspace and "dropped munitions," the country's official news agency reported.

The Israel Defense Forces said it would have no comment on the Syrian reports. "It is not our custom to respond to these kinds of reports," the IDF Spokesman's Office said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also said there would be no comment beyond the military statement.

Syrian air defenses fired at the incoming plane, which crossed into Syria after midnight local time, the Syrian news agency said.

The Syrian Army spokesman, quoted by the official Syrian Arab News Agency, did not say how the military fired on the aircraft, but confirmed that the incident occurred at midnight Wednesday night.

To be fair to Syria, they also denied that this was not part of a bombing raid:

A Syrian analyst told Hebzollah's Al-Manar television that the plane was likely dumping munitions in order to maneuver, and was not carrying out a bombing raid.

However, it is curious that they were in the northern part of Syria. As this map from the BBC shows, the northern border of Syria is quite a long way from Israel.

Very curious indeed.