Israeli warplane downed after Iranian drone incursion

Israeli security stands around the wreckage of an F-16 that crashed in northern Israel, near kibbutz of Harduf. Photo / AP

Anti-aircraft fire has downed an Israeli warplane returning from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions in Syria in the most serious confrontations yet between Israel and Iranian-backed forces based across the border.

The F-16, one of at least eight Israeli planes dispatched in response to what Israel said was an Iranian drone's incursion into its airspace earlier in the day, was hit by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile and crashed in northern Israel, an Israeli official told Reuters.

Both pilots ejected and were injured, one critically. Israel then launched a second and more intensive air raid, hitting what it said were 12 Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria, including Syrian air defence systems.

Separately, a Revolutionary Guards' official said he could not confirm the report because Israelis were "liars".

"Reports of downing an Iranian drone flying over Israel and also Iran's involvement in attacking an Israeli jet are so ridiculous," state TV quoted Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying.

Israel and Syria signalled they were not seeking wider conflict, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to military headquarters in Tel Aviv and the pro-Assad alliance pledged a strong response to any Israeli "terrorist action".

"Israel seeks peace, but we will continue to defend ourselves steadfastly against any attack against us or any attempt by Iran to establish itself against us in Syria," Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

Russia, whose forces began intervening on behalf of Assad in 2015, expressed its concern and urged both sides to exercise restraint and avoid escalation.

The US has backed Israel's hawkish stance on Iran, and declared containing Tehran's influence an objective of its Syria policy.

"The Department of Defence did not participate in this military operation," Pentagon spokesman Adrian Rankine-Galloway said. "We share the concerns of many throughout the region that Iran's destabilising activities ... threaten international peace and security, and we seek greater international resolve in countering Iran's malign activities."

Flames rise from a missile, which according to the Lebanon national news agency appears to be part of a Syrian air defence missile targeting an Israeli warplane. Photo / AP

Israel has long maintained air superiority in the region, mounting air strikes in Syria on a regular basis, targeting suspected weapons shipments to Hizbollah.

Hizbollah said in a statement: "Today's developments mean the old equations have categorically ended".

Iranian and Iran-backed Shia forces, including Hizbollah, have deployed widely in Syria in support of Assad. Iran's military chief warned Israel last October against breaching Syrian airspace and territory. The Israeli military said it did not seek escalation, calling its action a defensive response to an Iranian act of aggression.

The last 14hrs in Syria:
-- Iranian drone enters Israeli airspace.
-- Israel steps up bombing raids in Syria.
-- Turkish helicopter downed over Afrin.
-- US clashes for a third day with pro-Assad forces.
-- Civilians trapped in the middle, again.

— Louisa Loveluck (@leloveluck) February 10, 2018

Iranian drone took off from base under Russian control. Syrians trained by Russians fired Russian missiles at Israeli planes. Israel coordinates operations over Syria with Russia and asks Russia to prevent escalation.
The US has never been less relevant.

— Anshel Pfeffer (@AnshelPfeffer) February 10, 2018

The Iranian drone today, like the bombing of U.S. forces earlier this week in eastern Syria, suggests growing Iranian anxiety at the possibility of U.S.-Israeli collaboration in Syria against Iran. This was a way of gauging their responses, as well as Russia's.

— Michael Young (@BeirutCalling) February 10, 2018

- Reuters, AAP