Israel escalates war, testing Russia

Israel has launched what it described as a large-scale air raid in Syria after one of its F-16 fighters crashed while under Syrian anti-aircraft fire.

Twelve sites, including four “Iranian targets” near the Syrian capital, Damascus, were destroyed in the raid, according to an Israeli military spokesman, Jonathan Conricus. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.

The Israeli F-16 was shot at as it returned on Saturday morning from a raid to destroy Iranian facilities accused of launching a drone into Israel.

Both pilots managed to eject and landed in Israel. One was badly injured. It was not clear if the jet was hit or if the pilots abandoned the plane.