An Israeli military spokesman says Iran was “responsible for this severe violation of Israeli sovereignty.”
In its first known military engagement with Iran, Israel responded to an Iranian drone incursion into its territory early Saturday by bombing the launch site in Syria, according to Israeli military officials.
Returning from that mission, an Israeli F-16 fighter jet was downed over Israeli territory by a barrage of Syrian anti-aircraft missiles.
That prompted Israel to respond with what the army called “a large-scale operation” targeting 12 Syrian and Iranian military sites. A community Facebook page that tracks attacks in the Syrian capital of Damascus reported there had been strikes on military sites near the suburbs of Kiswah and Dimas.
The attacks and counterattacks also mark the first time since 1982 that Israel and Syria have engaged in direct combat.
Source: In an apparent first, Israel conducts military strikes against Iranian targets