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Eisenkot Says He Ordered 2018 Syria Strikes as Netanyahu Went Unreachable

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Courtroom-sketch editorial illustration of Gadi Eisenkot seated in a dark suit and pale blue shirt, looking slightly upward against a muted background.

Former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot said he tried to wake Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the night of February 9-10, 2018, after an armed Iranian Shahed 141 drone entered Israel and was intercepted by an Apache helicopter. Eisenkot said he ordered an immediate strike that destroyed the drone's control trailer at Syria's T4 airbase while Netanyahu could not be reached. After Syrian air defenses hit an Israeli F-16 and its two pilots ejected with injuries, Eisenkot ordered a broader response. The IDF says that wave hit 12 Syrian and Iranian targets, including three air-defense batteries and four Iranian military targets.

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