Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli air strikes in Syria the previous day were a "heavy blow" to Iranian and Syrian forces in the war-torn country.

"We inflicted on Saturday a heavy blow to Iranian and Syrian forces," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting, referring to major Israeli air raids in Syria.

"We made clear to everyone that our rules of engagement will not change in any way. We will continue to harm anyone who tries to harm us. This was our policy and this will remain our policy."

Israel said its raids were against both Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria.

The raids came after an Israeli F16 fighter jet was shot down by Syrian air defences. The pilots survived, but it was the first time Israel had lost a warplane in battle since 1982.

The strikes began with Israel shooting down what it described as an Iranian drone that had entered its airspace from Syria -- calling it an "attack."

Iran denied the allegations regarding the drone and said Syria had the right to defend itself against Israeli attacks.

Syria regime strikes kill six civilians in Ghouta: monitor
Beirut (AFP) Feb 11, 2018 - Syrian regime air strikes killed six civilians including two children overnight in Eastern Ghouta after a day of respite from deadly bombardment of the rebel enclave, a monitor said Sunday.

Since February 5, President Bashar al-Assad's regime has intensified its bombardment of the besieged region outside Damascus, killing more than 245 civilians including dozens of children.

On Saturday, the Damascus government eased up its strikes on Eastern Ghouta as it faced Israeli air raids on what Israel said were regime and Iranian targets inside the country.

But the regime raids picked up again on Saturday night, killing six civilians and wounding more than 50 others, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

Five of those, including two children, were killed in the region's main town of Douma, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Western powers have expressed alarm over the government's campaign against Eastern Ghouta, where 400,000 people have been besieged since 2013, facing severe food and medicine shortages.

The UN Security Council is considering a draft resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire in Syria to allow for urgent deliveries of humanitarian aid, according to the text seen by AFP on Friday.

Sweden and Kuwait presented the measure that would also demand an immediate end to sieges, including in Eastern Ghouta.

Negotiations on the proposed measure are to begin on Monday, and diplomats said it could quickly come to a vote at the council.

Syria's war has killed more than 340,000 people and displaced millions since it erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

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'Unacceptable' to endanger lives of Russian soldiers in Syria: Moscow
Moscow (AFP) Feb 10, 2018
Russia on Saturday called for "restraint" from all parties in Syria and said it considered risking the lives of Russian soldiers "absolutely unacceptable" following large-scale Israeli air strikes inside Syria. "We strongly call on all sides involved to show restraint and avoid all acts that could lead to complicating the situation further," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. "It is absolutely unacceptable to create threats to the lives and security of Russian soldiers that are ... read more