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Pentagon Backs Israeli Right to Defend Itself Against Threats to Its Territory

Israel conducted airstrikes in Syria, which were provoked, according to the Israeli army, by an "act of Iran's aggression," when an Iranian drone flew into the disputed Israel-occupied Golan Heights last night.
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"Israel is our [US] closest security partner in the region and we [US] fully support Israel's inherent right to defend itself against threats to its territory and its people," Pentagon's spokesman Adrian Rankine-Galloway said.

He also added that the US Department of Defense "did not participate in this military operation," referring to the Israeli latest attacks on what its military said were Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria, including Syrian air defense systems.

READ MORE: WATCH Iranian Drone Shot Down by IDF, Israeli Retaliation

"We share the concerns of many throughout the region that Iran's destabilizing activities threaten international peace and security, and we seek greater international resolve in countering Iran's malign activities," Rankine-Galloway stressed.

Netanyahu: Israel to Counter Iran's Attempts to Establish Itself in Syria
Earlier in the day, the Israeli army carried out a series of airstrikes at what the Israeli military said were Iranian targets in Syria after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said its helicopter downed an Iranian drone after it crossed into the Golan Heights, controlled by Israel. The Israeli attack immediately prompted fire from the Syrian air defense systems, which brought down Israeli F-16 fighter jet.

However, a pro-Assad military alliance in Syria said in a statement that Israeli claim about Iranian drone entering its aerospace is a "lie" and the IDF during its retaliatory attacks targeted a drone base in Syria, which was used in fighting the Daesh terrorist group. Iran called reports of downing an Iranian drone flying over Israel and its involvement in attacking an Israeli jet "ridiculous." Israel in its turn said that it is not interested in escalating the situation in Syria, and airstrikes on the territory of this country are of defensive nature.

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