Israel Denies That Syria Shot Down Plane

A ceasefire allegedly went into effect in Syria at sundown on Monday—though most reports suggest that there are still a lot of people shooting at each other. Amid confusion over which opposition areas could be considered valid targets, there were reports of several attacks late Monday and early Tuesday, the Guardian reports. Separately, the Syrian government claimed to have shot down an Israeli warplane and drone near the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights area, the AP reports. Israel denied the claim, saying it fired two missiles at Syrian artillery positions overnight and the safety of Israeli aircraft was never compromised.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the ceasefire was broken by sporadic attacks, but it did not record any civilian deaths in the first 15 hours of the truce, the BBC reports. John Kerry, one of the deal's main architects, says it is "far too early" to draw conclusions about whether the truce will hold in the days ahead. "There will be undoubtedly be reports of violations here and there and that’s the nature of ceasefires,” he told reporters in Washington. "For all the doubts that exist, and there will be many challenges in the days to come, despite that, this plan has a chance to work." (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made a rare public appearance on Monday.)