Israels ambassador to Moscow said on Saturday Iranian-backed “Hezbollah” units and other Shiite fighters should be immediately withdrawn from Syrias southern de-escalation zone. "We prefer to talk about the implementation of different agreements on the zones of de-escalation, in our case, in the south on the border with Israel," Russias Interfax news agency quoted Ambassador Harry Koren as saying. "Specifically, any presence of Iranian units, Hezbollah and Shiite fighters should immediately be curtailed." The diplomat spoke after Israel said it had shot down an Iranian drone violating its airspace and struck at least 12 Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria and an Israeli F-16 jet under Syrian fire had crashed in northern Israel. An Israeli military spokesman said the country does not seek an escalation in the region. "We are willing, prepared and capable to exact a heavy price from anyone that attacks us, however we are not looking to escalate the situation. This was a defensive effort triggered by an Iranian act of aggression and we are defending our airspace our sovereignty and civilians,” said the spokesman. Spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told journalists in a phone conference the Syrians and Iranians were "playing with fire" but 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 the Iranian drone infiltration of Israeli airspace from Syria. "Thats why our response is as severe as it is."