Israel will face “more surprises” if it attacks Syrian territory again, Damascus said on Tuesday, after Syria’s air defenses shot down an advanced Israeli warplane during the fiercest clash between the old foes in 36 years.
The F-16 jet was hit over northern Israel on Saturday as it returned from a raid on a Syrian position blamed for launching an Iranian-made drone across the border. Iran is supporting President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s near seven-year civil war.
“Have full confidence the aggressor will be greatly surprised, because it thought this war — this war of attrition Syria has been exposed to for years — had made it incapable of confronting attacks,” Assistant Foreign Minister Ayman Sussan said during a Damascus news conference.
The downed F-16 was the first warplane Israel has lost to Syrian fire since the 1982 Lebanon war. Its two-man crew survived, with injuries, after bailing out of the stricken jet.
Israel retaliated by destroying around half of Syria’s anti-aircraft batteries, according to an initial assessment shared with Reuters by an Israeli official who requested anonymity.
Reuters and Algemeiner Staff
{Matzav.com}
There is a prophecy that says Damascus will be no more, just putting it out there, for all the prophecies have come true when Hashem says so, not man.