ISRAEL FIGHTER IS SHOT DOWN
Pilots eject during mission over Syria
Syrian anti-aircraft fire took out an Israeli warplane Saturday, forcing its pilots to eject just before it crashed in northern Israel.
It was the first time in 12 years that Israel lost an aircraft in combat.
One of the pilots was seriously injured, while the other was only slightly hurt, according to reports.
The downed jet was one of at least eight fighters attacking Iranian and Syrian targets.
The Syrians had “some nerve’’ to fire at the plane, said Brig. Gen. Tomer Bar, second-in-command of the Israeli Air Force, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Hezbollah terrorists allied with Iran said shooting down the plane signals “the start of a new strategic phase’’ that will prevent future Israeli air incursions.
But the shootdown didn’t stop Israel from immediately retaliating. Soon after the jet crashed, Israel launched an even bigger raid, hitting 12 targets.
A missile apparently fired from Syria landed in a lemon grove in southwest Lebanon, said Lebanon’s official news agency.
The downed Israeli jet had been part of a raid inside Syria that retaliated for an Iranian drone’s incursion of Israeli airspace.
The drone was over Israeli territory for about 90 seconds, said a report on the Ynet.com news Web site.
An Israeli attack helicopter shot it down — and a fighter strike inside Syria took out what Israel said was an Iranian command vehicle.
Iran is supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his country’s 7-year-old civil war.
Russia, which also supports Assad, urged both sides to exercise restraint.
A Western diplomat in the region said he expects that the Russians will get their wish.
“It seems to be contained at this point. I don’t think anybody wants to escalate further,’’ the diplomat said, according to Reuters.
An official in Assad’s government concurred. “I do not believe matters will develop to a regional war,’’ he said.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due in the region this week.
Elsewhere in Syria, Turkish forces and their local allies battled an American-backed Kurdish militia.
The United States called for restraint as Turks attacked Kurd positions in northwestern Syria.
Turkey bizarrely called the fighting “Operation Olive Branch.’’
US diplomats asked Turkey to back down.
“We urge Turkey to exercise restraint and ensure that its military operations remain limited in scope and duration and scrupulous to avoid civilian casualties,” the State Department said in a statement.