United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate de-escalation in Syria after Israel carried out raids inside the war-torn country. Guterres is “following closely the alarming military escalation throughout Syria and the dangerous spillover across its borders,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. Israel targeted what it said were Iranian positions inside Syria after one of its warplanes was hit by Syrian air defenses and crashed. The Israeli raids came after it intercepted what it said was an Iranian drone entering its airspace. Guterres stressed that all concerned in Syria and in the region must abide by international law. “He calls on all to work for an immediate and unconditional de-escalation of violence and exercise restraint,” Dujarric said. It was the most serious confrontation between Iran and Israel since Syria’s war began in 2011 and came amid growing alarm over Syrian government offensives against rebel-held Eastern Ghouta and Idlib. The Syrian people are suffering “though one of the most violent periods in nearly seven years of conflict,” said the UN statement. “Over 1,000 civilian casualties from airstrikes were reported in the first week of February alone.” Guterres urged the parties to move quickly toward a political solution to end the war. Israel’s Ambassador Danny Danon called on the Security Council “to condemn this dangerous act and to put an immediate end to Iranian provocations.” Meanwhile, Secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani rejected the claims made by Israel that it launched airstrikes in Syria after it had intercepted an "Iranian drone". “The claim by the Zionists (that they have carried out sorties) to damage Iranian bases in Syria is a lie,” Shamkhani told reporters in Tehran on Sunday. Iran has “advisory, not military presence” in Syria, the security official reiterated, denying the Israeli allegation that its warplanes have scrambled in reaction to an Iranian drone. Basically, one would not fly military jets to hit a drone, Shamkhani, himself a top general, added. “The Syrian nation proved this time that it will respond to any act of aggression, as the era of hit and run is over,” Tasnim quoted Shamkhani as saying.