Tensions were high across the Israeli-Syrian border on Sunday, a day after anti-aircraft fire downed an Israeli warplane returning from a bombing raid on Iranian positions in Syria, in Israel's most serious engagement in neighboring Syria since fighting there began in 2011.
The F-16 aircraft, one of at least eight Israeli jets dispatched to the border region 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.
Both pilots manning the aircraft ejected and were injured. One pilot was lightly hurt, and the other, who was classified as being in serious condition, was showing signs of improvement on Sunday and doctors were predicting a full recovery.
After the incident, Israel launched a second, more intensive air raid, hitting what it said were 12 Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria, including Syrian air defense systems.
Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group said the downing of the plane marked the "start of a new strategic phase" which would limit Israel's ability to enter Syrian airspace.
A Syria war monitor, meanwhile, said the unprecedented wave of Israeli airstrikes killed at least six Syrian troops and allied militiamen.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the casualty report included Syrian troops as well as Syrian and non-Syrian allied troops. The Britain-based Observatory monitors the war in Syria through a network of activists on the ground.
Iran's involvement in Syria in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad in a nearly seven-year-old civil war – including the deployment of Iran-backed forces near the Israeli border in the Golan Heights – has alarmed Israel, which has vowed to counter any threat.
But Israel and Syria signaled 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.
A Western diplomat in the region said: "My impression is that it seems to be contained at this point. I don't think anybody wants to escalate further."
Saturday's chain of events began at 4:30 a.m. local time, when an Israeli Apache helicopter shot down an Iranian drone over the northern town of Beit She'an, the Israeli military said.
The drone had been sighted taking off from a base in Syria, and was intercepted after it crossed into Israeli territory, spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said.
Israeli planes then hit the Iranian installation in Syria that launched and operated the unmanned aircraft.
The Israeli military released grainy black and white footage of what it said was the drone's control vehicle in Syria being destroyed.
The F-16 crashed on its return from the mission, coming down in an empty field near Harduf, east of Haifa.
"We heard a big explosion and then sirens. We didn't know what was happening, we heard helicopters and planes," said Yosi Sherer, 51, who was staying at a hostel in Beit She'an.
Flights at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport were briefly halted.
The area was quiet by mid-afternoon.
Conricus said missile remnants were found near the crash site. "We don't know yet if it's an SA-5 or SA-17, but it's a Syrian anti-aircraft missile," he said.
Israel then launched a second bombing raid in Syria.
The pro-Assad military alliance said Israel had attacked a drone base in central Syria but denied any of its drones had breached Israeli airspace. Iran dismissed the Israeli version of events as "ridiculous."
David Ivry, a former Israeli Air Force chief, told Reuters he believed it was the first time an Israeli F-16 was brought down since Israel began using the jets in the 1980s.
Israel has long maintained air superiority in the region, mounting airstrikes in Syria on a regular basis, targeting suspected weapons shipments to Hezbollah.
