Lieutenant Colonel L.
Lieutenant Colonel L.IDF Spokesperson's Unit

Lieutenant Colonel L., commander of the 113 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force (also known as Ha'Tsira'a – lit. hornet or wasp), is the pilot who intercepted the Iranian drone which infiltrated into Israeli territory early Saturday morning.

"The squadron was called upon to defend the airspace of the state of Israel. We identified an Iranian UAV, and when it crossed the border, we shot it down within Israeli territory. for any task required of it,” he said.

In response to the provocation, Israel attacked the drone's command center in Syria. During the IAF operation, Syrian surface-to-air missiles downed an Israeli F-16I fighter jet, injuring two pilots who were evacuated to the Rambam Hospital in Haifa.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded on Saturday night to the incident and said, "Israel wants peace but we will continue to defend ourselves with determination against any attack on us and against any attempt by Iran to entrench itself militarily in Syria or anywhere else.”

IAF commander Tomer Bar said on Saturday, "The Iranian drone was a very advanced model. It remained in Israeli air space for a minute and a half."

"This is the first time one of our planes has been hit by enemy fire since 1983. The Syrians have a lot of nerve to fire missiles at us, and we therefore operated in a very wide-scale and comprehensive fashion. The IDF response constitutes a severe blow to the Syrian air force's defenses. We hit their fire control center, communications systems, and Iran's listening centers," he added.