For some time now, various news outlets have claimed that Israel is already using its pair of recently-delivered F-35I Adirs in a combat role even before they've been declared operational by the Israeli Air Force. But today, military aviation journalist Thomas Newdick conveyed a report by a French journalist that not only claimed the F-35Is have been active over Syria, but also details what targets they specifically took out on their mission there. Additionally, the writer claims the Adir's first combat missions occurred in January, just a month after the aircraft arrived on Israeli soil.

During the same attack, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) also reportedly destroyed an S-300 SAM battery deployed near the Syrian presidential palace, on Mount Qassioun. According to the same unnamed French intelligence source quoted by Malbrunot, the F-35 aircraft finally overflew the palace of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad before returning to Israel.

Georges Malbrunot, who writes for French newspaper Le Figaro, cited French intelligence sources. He posted on Twitter today that examples of the Israeli F-35—two of which have been delivered to the country to date—took part in a raid over Syrian territory on the night of January 12-13. The mission saw them strike objectives around the capital, Damascus.

The IAF has had bouts of activity over Syria in recent months, hitting targets usually related to Hezbollah . For years, IAF fighter aircraft have operated over Syria without issues, relying on the IAF's advanced electronic warfare and hacking capabilities to give their tactical aircraft a cloak against Syria's somewhat antiquated air defense system. In 2015, Netanyahu and Putin initially worked out a deal to deconflict Israel air operations over Syria with Russian aircraft and air defenses shortly after Russia started its military adventure in Syria. In recent months that deal has begun to deteriorate .

But still, Syria does not have any S-300 batteries as the report claims—the only "triple digit" SAM systems deployed to Syria are owned and operated by Russia. In particular, these include an S-400 battery at Russia's air base south of Latakia and a S-300 battery deployed near Russia's expanded warm-water naval facility in Tartus, Syria. With this in mind, unless Israel has taken upon itself to destroy Russian SAM systems and Russia had no issue with it, this claimed attack did not happen.

As for flying over Assad's palace in some show of force, the likelihood that actually happened is slim to none. Why would Israel provoke an already very fragile situation in Syria and especially risk their most prized weapon system—including the international fallout that would go along with it—for what amounts to a hollywood-like intimidation gag? Coincidentally, I also find it funny how Israeli seems to always buzz their potential enemies' palaces in media reports. In the past, when Israel was proving its air dominance in the region, such a tactic may have been used sparingly for psychological warfare purposes, but it serves little purpose today on battlefield Syria. Sure, it sounds cool—like something ripped from an '80s action movie or bar room tale—but in reality, it only invites additional risk and the IAF has nothing to prove to their neighbors.

As for the Pantsir-S1 being transferred to Hezbollah—there is already a talk about Iran obtaining these advanced point air defense systems through Syria, with Damascus working as an intermediary. And yes, any advanced arms transfer to Hezbollah seems to be a highly legitimate and high-value target in Israel's eyes. But the claim that IAF would be unable to operate over Lebanon if a handful of these systems fell into Hezbollah's hands shows a poor understanding of modern air combat capabilities, especially those of the IAF, and of the Pantsir-S1 system. In addition, active Pantsir point defense systems become targets themselves, especially considering Israel's high-end electronic surveillance abilities and unique asymmetric suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) capabilities. In other words, although it increases risks to air operations, the IAF can deal with a few Pantsir-S1s in the hands of Hezbollah.