F-15
F-15Israel news photo: Flash 90

IAF fighter jets were scrambled into Israel's skies twice Saturday, for reasons that are unknown. Such events usually occur when it is believed that a foreign aircraft is invading Israeli airspace.

The IDF has refused to say why the jets were scrambled.

Two jets were scrambled in the morning – one of which, according to Channel 2's website, was an F-16 that took off from Ramat David and was seen in the northern skies.

The second scrambling took place later in the day and involved F-15s that took of from Tel Nof toward the skies over Ashdod in the south.

A week ago, jets were scrambled into the sky over Tel Aviv, causing some concern among residents. That event was explained as having resulted from the identification of a suspicious flying object on IAF radar screens. The object was later said to have been a flock of birds.

On April 25, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) penetrated Israeli air space from Lebanon, and was shot down. IAF aircraft belonging to the aerial defense array identified an aircraft making its way from Lebanon into Israeli airspace, and fighter jets and combat helicopters were scrambled. The UAV was still over the Mediterranean sea when the IAF Commander gave instructions to shoot it down.

After that incident, Hezbollah denied sending a drone towards Israel.

In October of last year, Hezbollah succeeded in sending a UAV that penetrated Israeli airspace before it was shot down. The embedded video below is from that event.