The Israeli military shot down an Iranian drone that infiltrated into the country early on Saturday before launching a “large-scale attack” on at least a dozen Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria. Israel called it a “severe and irregular violation of Israeli sovereignty” and warned of further action against the unprecedented Iranian aggression.
The military said its planes faced massive anti-aircraft fire from Syria that forced two pilots to abandon an F-16 jet that crashed in northern Israel. One pilot was seriously wounded and the other lightly. Syrian officials reported large explosions in the centre of the country and the Syrian counter fire set off warning sirens throughout northern Israel.
The Israeli strikes marked its most significant engagement since the fighting in neighboring Syria began in 2011 and said Iran would be held responsible for its outcome.
“This is a serious Iranian attack on Israeli territory. Iran is dragging the region into an adventure in which it doesn’t know how it will end,” Israel’s chief military spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis said in a special statement.
Iran denies claim
Gen. Hossein Salami, Acting Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, did not acknowledge Israel’s claim that it shot down the drone. “We do not confirm any such news from Israel,” he said.
But the joint operations room for the Syrian military and its allies denied that the drone violated Israeli airspace, saying it was on a regular mission gathering intelligence on Islamic State militants.
Syria’s Defence Ministry said in statements on its website that its air defences responded successfully to the Israeli operation and hit more than one plane. “The Israeli enemy has once again attacked some of our military bases in the southern area and our air defences responded and foiled the aggression,” it said.