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Syria says it has more ‘surprises’ for Israel in next attack

“God willing they will see more surprises whenever they try to attack Syria,” a Syrian official said, referring to recent IAF strikes in the country. 

By: World Israel News Staff

Days after Israel’s Air Force (IAF) carried out several attacks inside Syria and caused extensive damage to its air defense network, a Syrian official claimed Assad’s forces caught Israel off guard and still has more “surprises” in store.

An IAF jet was downed by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile on its way back from a bombing mission. Both pilots survived the incident.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Ayman Soussan boasted Tuesday that “the aggressor [Israel] will be greatly surprised because it thought this war [the Syrian civil war] – this war of attrition Syria has endured for years – had made it incapable of confronting attacks.”

“God willing they will see more surprises whenever they try to attack Syria,” Soussan said in a press conference at the Foreign and Expatriate Ministry in Damascus, according to Reuters.

Eight Israeli fighter jets in two formations retaliated against the Syrian infiltration of an Iranian drone into Israeli airspace early Saturday morning.

During the bombing runs, the F-16s came under heavy Syrian anti-aircraft fire. One missile exploded near one of the planes, rendering it inoperable. In a matter of seconds, the pilot and navigator were forced to bail out of the plane before it crashed in northern Israel.

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The IAF estimates that the Syrians were successful in downing the F-16 jet as a result of a technical issue in which the proper defense systems in the warplane were not activated.

According to the investigation, the pilot of the lead plane in the formation — also targeted by anti-aircraft missiles — dived just in time to evade the Syrian fire, saving his aircraft.

Israel hit 12 targets, including two Iranian military bases, three weapons depots, six Syrian military bases, and Syria’s largest air force base, east of Palmyra, where Israel obliterated 54 runways and a control tower.

JNS.org contributed to this report.