Over the weekend, an Iranian drone was piloted directly toward the Israeli border prompting the IDF to send an Apache helicopter to intercept it.
As soon as the drone crossed the border, the Apache fired and brought the drone to the ground.
That would’ve been a dog-bites-man story, except Israel then launched F-16s to take out the Syrian command center from which the drone was being piloted.
Then on their way back to Israel, Syrian anti-aircraft shot down one of the F-16s, forcing the pilot to eject.
It’s one of the worst military exchanges between the two nations since the Syrian civil war began.
The question now is whether Israel will respond.
If it escalates, the Trump administration will almost certainly become involved.
Here’s more from Hot Air…
Israel says an Iranian drone entered Israeli airspace early Saturday. The drone was tracked by an Apache helicopter and shot down. From the Jerusalem Post:
Early on Saturday morning, an Iranian drone, which was launched from a Syrian base in the Homs desert, was identified approaching Israeli airspace by the IDF around 4 a.m., setting off alarms across Golan Heights and the Jordan Valley. The drone entered Israel via Jordanian airspace and flew for a minute and a half before it was intercepted by an Israeli Air Force Apache helicopter near the town of Beit She’an.
“We waited for it to cross into our territory,” said IAF chief of air staff Brigadier General Tomer Bar who stressed that it was important for Israel “to get our hands on the drone that was operated by the Iranians.”
After the drone went down, Israel sent jets into Syria and blew up the command center located at an airbase near Palmyra. Israel released this video of the drone being shot down and the command center strike:
WATCH: Footage of Israeli forces intercepting the Iranian drone and the destruction of its operation base.
The drone is a direct Iranian attack on Israeli territory. Iran is destabilizing the entire Middle East and is LEADING THE AREA TO WAR. Join us at https://t.co/cMqLFxhvjy pic.twitter.com/PMKyczny5t
— The Israel Project (@israelproject) February 10, 2018
