TEL AVIV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2018) Israel will not put an end to its operations in Syria against Iran's military presence despite the incident involving Russia's IL-20 military jet, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday.
"We have been acting carefully and responsibly and only in the cases when we have no other choice. So nothing has changed and nothing will change," Lieberman said in an interview to the Israeli radio station Kan.
The Russian Il-20 military aircraft, which was 22 miles off the Syrian coast, was shot down on September 17, while returning to the Hmeimim airbase. At the same time, four Israeli F-16 aircraft were bombing Syrian targets in the province of Latakia. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Israel notified Russia of the airstrikes only a minute before their start. The ministry said that the Israeli pilots used the Russian aircraft as a shield against Syrian air defense systems. As a result, the Il-20 jet was downed by a missile launched by Syria's S-200 air defense system. The incident claimed the lives of 15 Russian servicemen.
