Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured above) on Saturday said that his country will “defend itself against any attack and any attempt to hurt our sovereignty”, BBC reported. He was speaking hours after tensions between Israel and Syria escalated.
Earlier on Saturday, Israel struck Iranian facilities in Syria after it had reportedly intercepted an Iranian drone in its territory. Iran, however, has denied the allegations. These have been called Israel’s largest strikes against sites in Syria in several decades.
During the raids, Syrian anti-aircraft shot down an Israeli fighter jet. The two pilots in Israel’s F-16 jet ejected and parachuted safely after the crash in Jezreel valley in northern Israel. The drone went down on Israeli territory and is in Israel’s possession.
“Iran brazenly violated Israel’s sovereignty,” Netanyahu said. “They dispatched an Iranian drone from Syrian territory into Israel...Israel holds Iran and its Syrian hosts responsible.”
Netanyahu added that he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Reuters reported. “I reiterated to him [Putin] our obligation and right to defend ourselves against attacks from Syrian territory,” he was quoted as saying. “We agreed coordination between our armies would continue.”
He added: “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.”
Russia and Iran, allies of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, began a military intervention in September 2015 to help the Syrian government regain territory from the Islamic State group. The civil war has claimed the lives of more than 3.4 lakh people and left huge swathes of Syrians as refugees.
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