JERUSALEM: Syrian anti-aircraft fire shot down an Israeli jet on Saturday,the military said, after Israel intercepted an Iranian drone launched fromSyria and struck an Iranian target there.

Footage from northern Israel showed what appeared to be white aircraftdebris scattered on the ground.

It was one of the most serious incidents involving Israel, Iran and Syriasince the start of the Syrian civil war almost eight years ago.

“A combat helicopter successfully intercepted an Iranian UAV that waslaunched from Syria and infiltrated Israel,” the Israeli military said in astatement.

“IDF (Israel Defence Forces) has targeted the Iranian control systems inSyria that sent the #UAV into Israeli airspace. Massive Syrian Anti-Airfire, one F16 crashed in Israel, pilots safe,” Israeli military spokesmanLieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricos said on Twitter.

Syrian state media cited a military source as saying Syrian air defenceshad opened fire in response to an Israeli act of “aggression” against amilitary base and hit “more than one plane”.

“The Israeli enemy entity at dawn today conducted a new aggression againstone of the military bases in the central region. Our air defencesconfronted it and hit more than one plane,” the unidentified militarysource said.

Israeli media said the jet crashed in northern Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a rare visit to theIsrael-Syria front on Tuesday and warned Israel’s enemies not to “test” itsresolve. He did not mention by name Iran or its Lebanese militia ally,Hezbollah, both main players in Syria’s civil war.

Mr. Netanyahu has been cautioning against any attempt by Iran to deepen itsmilitary foothold in Syria or construct missile factories in neighbouringLebanon.

Israel has seen spillover violence from the Syrian civil war. It has openedfire at times to foil what it deemed deliberate cross-border attacks andhas struck suspected Hezbollah arms shipments around 100 times in Syriaduring the civil war. – Agencies