Iran and Syria 'playing with fire' as drone intercepted
The downing of an Israeli jet contributes to a significant escalation in the context of the Syrian conflict, writes Alex Rossi.
Saturday 10 February 2018 18:34, UK
Iran and Syria are playing with fire - that was the warning of the Israel Defence Forces after it intercepted what it described as an Iranian drone penetrating Israeli airspace.
Certainly the retaliatory strikes and the subsequent downing of an Israeli F-16 jet - probably by Syrian anti-aircraft fire - makes this whole incident a significant escalation in the context of the Syrian conflict.
The drumbeat of war has been growing louder in recent days.
On Wednesday, Syrian media accused Israel of bombing a scientific research facility outside Damascus.
Analysts in Israel say it was a chemical weapons factory.
The Syrian conflict is maybe reaching its end game and Israel has made its red lines very clear.
President Assad is growing stronger by the day but Iran and Hezbollah, who've propped him up, cannot be allowed to use the country as a foothold to attack the Jewish state.
Since the Syrian war began, Israel has carried out numerous strikes over Syria. Senior Israeli officials have acknowledged there have been more than 100 airstrikes.
The targets, it's claimed, have been weapons factories, or convoys of arms heading to Lebanon.
Some of these strikes we hear about, others we don't, but a sporadic war of attrition is going on and this latest incident is part of that.
The big question is could what's just happened lead to a full-scale war?
Barring accidents and major miscalculations that is unlikely.
At the moment President Assad and Iran are consolidating the regime's position in Syria.
They are only just coming through many years of bruising war - a fight with Israel would be hugely destructive.
Israel is also aware of the consequences - if a full scale conflict ignites across the northern border, analysts estimate Hezbollah could launch a huge number of missiles onto Israeli cities.
So the latest incident needs to be seen in the context of what is now a prolonged low-level military confrontation between Israel and Iran (and its proxies).
It's about setting red lines and testing them without triggering a full scale conflict.
The spectre of that though is always in the background.