JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli military on Tuesday blamed Syria for the downing of a Russian plane, saying that Syrian anti-aircraft batteries “fired indiscriminately” and “did not bother” to ensure that no Russian planes were in the air.

A statement issued by the Israel Defence Forces said its fighter jets had “targeted” a Syrian facility that it said was about to transfer weapons to Hezbollah on behalf of Iran, but that when the Russian plane was downed the Israeli jets “were already within Israeli airspace.”