Israel’s military said on Saturday Iran and Syria were “playing with fire” but that it was not seeking an escalation after a confrontation resulted in large-scale Israeli air strikes inside Syria. It was the most serious confrontation between arch foes Israel and Iran since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus told journalists the Syrians and Iranians were “playing with fire”, but insisted Israel was “not looking to escalate the situation”.

“This is the most blatant and severe Iranian violation of Israeli sovereignty in the last years,” Conricus said, referring to what he described as an Iranian drone entering Israeli airspace from Syria. “That’s why our response is as severe as it is.”

Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli fighter jet crashed after coming under fire from Syrian air defences during attacks against “Iranian targets” in the war-torn country, an Israeli military spokesman said.

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