Crash site of the downed Israeli F-16 (Source: Southfront)
An Israeli F-16 fighter jet was shot down by a Syrian military anti-aircraft battery in response to an Israeli act of aggression against a Syrian military base. Syria says its military base came under Israeli fire, and it hit multiple aircraft in response.
This incident took place after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intercepted an Iranian-made UAV, which Israel claims crossed into their territory. Israel responded with an F-16 mission to target “Iranian control systems” – which ended in Syria shooting down Israel’s aircraft. The IDF pilots are said to have ejected safely, but one was seriously wounded.
IDF has targeted the Iranian control systems in Syria that sent the #UAV into Israeli airspace. Massive Syrian Anti-Air fire, one F16 crashed in Israel, pilots safe. #Iran is responsible for this severe violation of Israeli sovereignty. Event ongoing, more to follow.
— Jonathan Conricus (@LTCJonathan) February 10, 2018
Iran has responded, saying Tel Aviv’s claims are “ridiculous”.
Clearly, the Syrian Army have been using drones for aerial reconnaissance against ISIS and al Nusra terrorists along the Syria/Israel border area, and Israel knows this, but appear to have fabricated a pretext for yet another illegal airstrike deep inside of Syrian territory – fraudulently claiming the recon drone which they claim had touched Israeli airspace – was “an act of Iranian aggression” against Israel.
It is believed there are casualties among Syrian forces hit by Israel’s initial illegal airstrike.
Syrian State TV claims that Syrian air defenses struck more than one jet.
A few crucial points about this event:
- It’s the first time that Israeli officials have formally declared they carried out a strike inside Syria – normally they neither confirm not deny, and send an IDF surrogate on Israeli media to indirectly confirm the operation.
- This is the first time Tel Aviv has declared that Iran has formally ‘attacked’ Israel.
Al Jazeera confirms that Israel’s chief military spokesman, Brigadier General Ronen Manelis, is holding Iran directly responsible for the incident:
“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,” he said in a statement. “Whoever is responsible for this incident is the one who will pay the price.”
Publicly, General Manelis said that Israel was not looking to escalate the situation:
“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. This was a defensive effort triggered by an Iranian act of aggression and we are defending our airspace our sovereignty and civilians,” the source said.
However, this seems to have been a tactical lie by Tel Aviv, as Haaretz has just confirmed that following the downing of the jet Israel responded with a fresh “large-scale strike” in Syria.
Expect Israel to use this situation to increase its activity inside of Syria, most likely to aid ISIS and al Nusra-affiliated terrorists who are currently struggling and in desperate need of support. Israel has already been on record admitting they have helped these terrorist group operating in Syria.
Here is a video of the IDF crash site:
Southfront adds…
According to the Syrian state-run media, the Israeli airstrikes hit “one of the military bases in the central area [of Syria], and the army air defense confronted the aggression and hit more than one aircraft.” [Local sources say that the Israeli strikes allegedly targeted the T4 Airbase, but this still has to be confirmed.]
The Israeli military confirmed that one F-16 was shot down, but said that the pilots survived the incident.
Following the F-16 shotdown, the Israeli Air Force carried out a new series of airstrikes against Syria reportedly targeting the Al-Kiswah area in the countryside of the Syrian capital Damascus. The Syrian state-run media added that the country’s air defense forces responded to this “aggression” also.
The situation is developing.
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