DAMASCUS, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The operation room of Syria's allied forces on Saturday warned in a statement that the Israeli attacks against Syria will no longer be tolerated and Israel will witness a "tough" and "serious" response from now on.
In a statement, the operation room of the allies, mainly the Iranian-backed ones, slammed the Israeli claims that an Iranian drone was launched into Israel on Saturday, saying the drones were sent to observe the movement of the Islamic State (IS) militants in the Syrian desert in favor of the Syrian army.
It noted that Israel targeted the drones' station in the T4 airbase in the central city of Homs under false pretexts.
"When the Israeli attack occurred, our drones were still in the Syrian desert," the statement said.
"This terrorist act conducted by the Zionist entity will not be tolerated and they will witness tough and serious response from now on," the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, state news agency SANA said the Syrian air defenses hit several Israeli warplanes, which took part in striking several military targets in central and southern Syria on Saturday.
The first Israeli strikes were conducted at dawn Saturday, targeting the T4 airbase in Homs in central Syria.
Later on, the Israeli warplanes struck military positions in the countryside of the capital Damascus, also triggering the air defenses.
The state news agency spelled no details over the causalities or losses but said the air defenses largely foiled the Israeli attacks.
Meanwhile, Israeli media reports said the Israelis hit 12 targets in Syria, adding that an Israeli F-16 was hit and went down in northern Israel.
Downing the Israeli warplane is a new precedent in the decades-long enmity between Syria and Israel, which has repeatedly targeted Syrian positions during the nearly seven-year-long war in Syria without major responses from the Syrian side.
Israel claimed it's targeting positions of Iranian and Hezbollah weapon depots in Syria, but the recent attack and the downing of the Israeli warplane proved that Syria will no longer tolerate the Israeli strikes.
The attack is the second within three days, as the Israelis launched missile attack from warplanes inside the Lebanese airspace on Jan. 7, targeting a military base near the capital Damascus.
Israel has repeatedly warned that it will not tolerate Iranian influence in Syria or support to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.