Israel Air Force Destroys Syrian Anti-aircraft SA-5 Battery in Retaliation

The Israel Air Force destroyed a Syrian anti-aircraft SA-5 battery, located 50 km east of Damascus in retaliation to an attack on IAF planes by a surface-to-air missile Monday morning.

"Whoever strikes at us, we strike at them. Today they tried to harm our planes—unacceptable, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted as saying by Ynetnews portal Monday.

"The air force acted precisely and swiftly, destroying what needed to be destroyed. We will continue to act in the space as much as necessary to defend Israel's security," Netanyahu said.

The Syrian army warned Israel ‘of serious ramification of its repeated aggression’, and have claimed that they hit one of the Israel aircraft was hit. Israel denies the claim.

"Israeli Air Force planes infiltrated Lebanese airspace near the border in the Baalbek area at 8:51am, and the aerial defense apparatus fired in their direction. One of the planes suffered a direct hit and had to escape," the Syrian army claimed in a statement.

"At 11:38am, the Israeli enemy launched several missiles from inside Israeli territory, which fell in one of the Syrian outposts on the outskirts of Damascus. As a result, there was only damage to property," the Syrian statement went on to say.

According to the IDF Spokesman's Office, the anti-aircraft SA-5 battery, located 50 km east of Damascus, fired a missile at Israeli fighter jets on a reconnaissance mission over Lebanon at around 10am.

The fighter jets responded about two hours later by launching four bombs towards the battery, destroying its fire-control radar. All Israeli aircraft returned safely to basis. 

"We know according to our intelligence it was a battery controlled by the Syrian regime and we hold the Syrian regime responsible for the fire," IDf spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said.

"We're prepared for any possibility," said IDF Spokesman Ronen Manelis. "This was a Syrian provocation, and we will not allow it. On the other hand, we have no intention of escalating."

Manelis said Russia was updated about the attack against the battery in real time.

The incident occurred shortly before an expected visit by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu to Israel, who is set to arrive on Monday.