Israel’s military attacked 12 Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria on Saturday in a new wave of strikes it described as a ‘large-scale’ attack, following exchanges of fire earlier in the day sparked by an Iranian drone infiltration from Syria.
The military called the drone infiltration a “severe and irregular violation of Israeli sovereignty” and said Iran would be held responsible for its outcome, marking a dramatic escalation in tensions along its northern border.
The morning’s clashes also saw the crash of an Israeli F-16 jet after it was targeted by Syrian anti-aircraft missiles.
Israeli aircraft “targeted the Syrian Aerial Defense System and Iranian targets in Syria,” a military statement said. “Twelve targets, including three aerial defense batteries and four Iranian targets that are part of Iran’s military establishment in Syria were attacked.”
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said that during the attack 15-20 Syrian anti-aircraft missiles were fired towards aircraft, but did not hit them. Syria state TV said its air defenses responded to new Israeli raids.
The missiles triggered alarms that were heard in northern Israel.
“Syrians and Iranians are playing with fire,” Conricus said. “We are willing to extract a heavy price on anyone who attacks us.” He called that attacks on Iranian targets “quite significant.” However he stressed that “we are not interested in escalating the situation.”
Diplomatic sources said Israel has appealed to Russia to intervene and prevent further escalation. Similar calming messages were reportedly passed on to Washington.
The new Israeli raids came hours after an earlier one in central Syria.
The clashes erupted after an Iranian done infiltrated Israeli airspace and was downed by the air force. The army responded with strikes on Iranian targets, including the drone’s launch site — the Tiyas Military Airbase near Palmyra — which the army said it hit in “a complicated surgical strike.” The strike reportedly targeted a facility housing the unmanned aircraft’s Iranian operators.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the seven-year civil war, said the earlier Israeli raids had targeted several military bases in the east of the central province of Homs. It said the bases are used by both Iranian and Russian military personnel deployed in support of the regime.
Syrian state media said the later raids targeted military positions in the south of the country.
Israeli warplanes flying over Syria met heavy anti-aircraft fire. The military said one of its pilots was seriously wounded as a result of an emergency evacuation from his F-16 jet targeted by missiles. The F-16 crashed in northern Israel. One pilot was evacuated to a hospital in serious condition. A second pilot was lightly wounded.
The confrontation was the most serious between Israel and Iran since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011.
Sirens sounded in northern Israel throughout the morning as a result of massive Syrian anti-aircraft fire. Several Syrian anti-aircraft missiles reportedly fell inside Israeli territory, causing no damage.
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis said Israel held Iran directly responsible for the incident.
Israel launched a “large-scale attack” inside Syria on Saturday, targeting Syrian air defense sites after an Israeli F-16 fighter jet was downed by Syria anti-aircraft fire.
The series of cross-border incidents beginning in the early hours of Saturday morning began when an Iranian drone crossed into Israeli territory from Syria at around 4:30 a.m.
Israel then dispatched eight fighter jets to bomb the launch site — the T4 military base near the Syrian city of Palmyra, he said.
Syria responded with “substantial Syrian anti-aircraft fire” under which two Israeli pilots ejected from their F-16, which crashed inside Israel, according to the military. One of the pilots was severely injured.
The Israeli military said it was investigating whether the plane was hit directly. The Syrian state news agency said more than one plane was hit, describing the bombing of the base as a “new Israeli aggression.”
After the plane crashed, Israel responded by targeting 12 military sites in Syria — eight Syrian and four that it said were Iranian.
“The Syrians are playing with fire that they are allowing the Iranians to attack Israel from their soil,” Conricus said. “The IDF is ready and capable to inflict a heavy price on anyone that attacks us. This is a severe attack and a breach of Israeli sovereignty perpetrated by Iran.”
Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes in Syria in recent years, citing concerns about a growing Iranian military presence and an expansion of its proxy Hezbollah over its northern border during Syria’s nearly seven-year-long civil war. However, unlike on Saturday, the Israeli military usually refrains from confirming specific incidents.
“We can hear the sounds of the explosions,” said one Damascus resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said the outgoing sound of Syrian anti-air craft missiles is louder than usual. Air raid sirens were triggered in residential areas on Israel’s northern border.
The IDF warned Syria and Iran against ‘violating Israeli sovereignty,’ otherwise they would pay a heavy price. The Israeli military also insisted that Israel does not seek an escalation in tensions in the region.
“Iran and Syria are playing with fire,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Twitter. The military added that it acts “with determination” against “the attempt of the Iranian-Syrian attack and the violation of Israeli sovereignty.” “The IDF is prepared for a variety of scenarios and will continue to act as necessary.”
The IDF lashed out at the Syrian military, accusing the state of interference in the Israeli-Iranian incident, as well as at Iran for “using Syria as a launchpad for activity against Israel.”
#Iran is the aggressor here. They sent a #UAV on a military mission, violating #Israeli sovereignty. The #IDF is ready for all scenarios, urging Iran and Syria to cease aggression. pic.twitter.com/9E8eIz2TGi
However, the IDF insisted that Israel does not seek escalation with the two states. “We are willing, prepared and capable to exact a heavy price from anyone that attacks us, however we are not looking to escalate the situation," the IDF said, insisting that what they’ve done was merely “a defensive effort triggered by an Iranian act of aggression and we are defending our airspace our sovereignty and civilians."
Tensions between Israel, Iran, and Syria have been heating up since early Saturday after the IDF intercepted an Iranian UAV, which crossed from the territory of Syria into Israel. The Israeli military responded by targeting a Syrian military base, where they believed the operator of the drone to be located. Later that day, an Israeli F-16 fighter jet crashed after Damascus responded with anti-aircraft fire to an Israeli operation in its territory. The pilots ejected and survived the incident.
In response, the IDF said it struck 12 Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria, including air defense batteries, adding that that during the attack, “anti-aircraft missiles were fired towards Israel, triggering alarms that were heard in Northern Israel.”
Following an exchange of fire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held security consultations, approving the necessary actions in real time following the incidents, official Israeli sources told Haaretz.
Air traffic at Ben Gurion International Airport, 20km from Tel Aviv, was halted for around 15-20 minutes amid security tensions, Israeli media reported.
- Israel said F-16 was taking part in retaliation for what was 'serious Iranian attack'
- Military said it carried out 'large scale' strike against Iranian and Syrian targets
- Warplane downed by Syrian anti-aircraft fire, crashed in Israel, crew both alive
- Israel said a drone launched from Syria was intercepted by a helicopter
An Israeli fighter has been shot down as the country's air force carried out attacks against Iranian targets in Syria after intercepting a drone.
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, seriously wounding one and lightly injuring the other.
'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, Brigadier General Ronen Manelis, said in a statement.
'Whoever is responsible for this incident is the one who will pay the price.'
Israeli forces identified an 'Iranian UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)' launched from Syria and intercepted it in Israeli airspace with a combat helicopter, a statement said.
They then 'targeted the Iranian control systems in Syria that sent the UAV into Israeli airspace,' military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus tweeted.
'Massive Syrian anti-air fire, one F16 crashed in Israel, pilots safe.'
The Israeli military then carried out what it called a 'large scale attack' against Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria.
Israel has shot down several drones that previously tried to infiltrate its territory from Syria. The targeting of Iranian sites in response, however, mark an escalation in the Israeli retaliation.
During the attack, anti-aircraft missiles were fired toward Israel jets triggering sirens that were sounded across northern Israel.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman was convening a meeting of senior officers at the IDF's headquarters in Tel Aviv to discuss a further response.
Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Iran was 'responsible for this severe violation of Israeli sovereignty' and that the military was 'fully prepared for further action.'
Syrian state TV quoted a military official saying Syrian air defences hit more than one Israeli plane. The official said the Israeli raids hit a base in the country's central area, and called it a 'new aggression.'
Israel has said it will not accept a permanent military presence by Iran and its Shiite allies in Syria, especially near the Israeli border.
It has been warning of late of the increased Iranian involvement along its border in Syria and Lebanon.
The country fears Iran could use Syrian territory to stage attacks or create a land corridor from Iran to Lebanon that could allow it to transfer weapons more easily to Hezbollah.
The Israeli Cabinet recently held a meeting on the Golan Heights near the border with Syria to highlight to new threats.
The military confirmed that the initial target in Syria - the unmanned aircraft's launch components - was successfully destroyed. Israel says it has the Iranian drone in its possession.
Iran and Syria on Saturday denied that the unmanned drone Israel said it shot down violated the Jewish state’s airspace, calling Israeli allegations “lies” and saying the drone was on a regular mission gathering intelligence on Islamic State.
A statement on Central Military Media, which is allied with the Syrian military, called a subsequent Israeli attack on a drone station in Syria’s central Homs province a “terrorist act,” warning of “a tough and serious response.”
The Israeli military called the drone infiltration a “severe and irregular violation of Israeli sovereignty” and said Iran would be held responsible for its outcome, marking a dramatic escalation in tensions along Israel’s northern border.
The drone incident led to a barrage of Israeli airstrikes on Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria. Syria responded with heavy anti-aircraft fire that set off multiple warning sirens in Israel and managed to down one Israeli F-16 in Israeli territory, seriously wounding a pilot.
A spokesman for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said the Syrian response to Israel’s air force was “a clear warning to Israel. The era of Israeli strikes on Syria is over.”
He vowed a “relentless response” to “all further aggression.”
A Syrian statement said Israeli jets targeted a drone base in central Syria whose mission is to gather intelligence on IS in the area. It said the station was hit while drones were on regular missions in the country’s desert in Homs province. The statement said it was “a lie and misleading” to say the drone had entered Israel’s airspace.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Syria “has the right to legitimate self-defense. To cover their crimes in the region, Israeli officials are resorting to lies against other countries.”
The deputy chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned, meanwhile, that his country could “bring hell upon the Zionist regime.”
Brigadier General Hossein Salami refused to confirm to the Tasnim news agency that an Iranian drone had been shot down. “We cannot confirm this report on the drone because Israelis are liars … if Syrians confirm it, Iran will confirm it as well,” said Salami, according to a Reuters translation.
But he warned that Tehran had the capability to destroy all US army bases in the region and to “bring hell upon the Zionist regime.”
Israeli warplanes flying over Syria met heavy anti-aircraft fire. The military said one of its pilots was seriously wounded as a result of an emergency evacuation from his F-16 jet targeted by missiles. The F-16 crashed in northern Israel. One pilot was evacuated to a hospital in serious condition. A second pilot was lightly wounded.
If the plane was in fact shot down by enemy fire, it could mark the first such instance for Israel since 1982 during the first Lebanon war.
Damascus residents celebrated the news.
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