Israel confirms that the F-16 jet was downed by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: Israel's military attacked 12 Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria on Saturday in what it described as "large-scale" raids following an exchange of fire earlier in the day.
"A few minutes ago, (Israeli aircraft)... targeted the Syrian Aerial Defence System and Iranian targets in Syria," a military statement said.
"Twelve targets, including three aerial defence batteries and four Iranian targets that are part of Iran's military establishment in Syria were attacked."
It added that "during the attack, anti-aircraft missiles were fired towards Israel, triggering alarms that were heard in northern Israel."
Syrian state news agency SANA said on Saturday Syrian air defences were responding to a "new Israeli aggression".
State television stations also said that sounds of explosions believed to be from Israeli attacks were heard in the Damascus countryside.
Syrian anti-aircraft fire shot down an Israeli jet on Saturday, the Israeli military said, after Israel intercepted an Iranian drone launched from Syria and struck an Iranian target there.
"IDF (Israel Defence Forces) 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," Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said on Twitter.
Israeli media said the jet crashed in northern Israel.
Syrian air defences opened fire in response to an Israeli act of "aggression" against a military base on Saturday and hit "more than one plane", Syrian state media cited a military source as saying.
"The Israeli enemy entity at dawn today conducted a new aggression against one of the military bases in the central region. Our air defences confronted it and hit more than one plane," the unidentified military source said.
Israel says Iran, Syria 'playing with fire' but does not want escalation
Israel's military said Saturday Iran and Syria were "playing with fire" but that it was not seeking an escalation.
Conricus told journalists in a phone conference the Syrians and Iranians were "playing with fire" but Israel was "not looking to escalate the situation."
"This is the most blatant and severe Iranian violation of Israeli sovereignty in the last years," Conricus said, referring to what he described as an Iranian drone entering Israeli airspace from Syria.
"That's why our response is as severe as it is."
'Immediate withdrawl'
Israel's ambassador to Moscow said on Saturday Iranian-backed Hezbollah units and Shi'ite Muslim rebels should be immediately withdrawn from Syria's southern de-escalation zone, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.
"We prefer to talk about the implementation of different agreements on the zones of de-escalation, in our case, in the south on the border with Israel," Interfax quoted Ambassador Harry Koren as saying.
"Specifically, any presence of Iranian units, Hezbollah and Shi'ite rebels should immediately be curtailed."

Israel confirms that the F-16 jet was downed by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile