Israel said it launched air strikes against air defences and Iranian targets in Syria on Saturday and the Syrian army claimed to have hit an Israeli F-16 that crashed in northern Israel, in a major escalation of tension.
The Israeli military said the F-16 jet crashed during a mission to strike Iranian drone installations in Syria, where Iranian and Iran-backed forces have established a major foothold while fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
Israel said it had sent its jets into Syria after shooting down an Iranian drone flying over Israeli territory earlier on Saturday. Israel said its warplanes came under fire in Syria, though it was still unclear why the jet had come down.
“Twelve targets, including three aerial defence batteries and four Iranian targets that are part of Iran’s military establishment in Syria were attacked,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
“During the attack, anti-aircraft missiles were fired towards Israel, triggering alarms that were heard in Northern Israel,” the military said.
Syrian state media reported two separate Israeli attacks.
In the first one, a military source said Syrian air defences had opened fire in response to an Israeli act of “aggression” against a military base, hitting “more than one plane”.
Later, Syrian state media said air defences were responding to a new Israeli assault and air defences had thwarted attacks on military positions in southern Syria.
Iran’s expanding clout during Syria’s nearly seven-year-long war, including deployments of Iran-backed forces near the Golan frontier, has raised alarm in Israel, which has said it would act against any threat from its regional arch-enemy Tehran.
The clashes marked a dangerous new confrontation between the international powers caught up in Syria’s seven-year-old war.
Iranian and Iran-backed Shi’ite forces, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, have deployed widely in support of Assad. Iran’s military chief warned Israel last October against breaching Syrian airspace and territory.