3 yıl önce

Lebanon's Hezbollah claims downing of Israeli drone

The Israeli military said the drone was carrying out an operational activity along the border before it crashed. "There is no risk of breach of information,” the military added.

Reuters

A picture released by Hezbollah media center on February 1, 2021, shows what they said is an Israeli drone at an unspecified location in Lebanon. The Arabic reads: "Military media."

Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group has said its fighters have shot down an Israeli drone over a southern village near the border with Israel. The Israeli military did not confirm the shoot-down but said a drone had crashed on Lebanese territory.

Tensions in the region have been rising over the past months amid Israeli air strikes on Iran-backed fighters in neighbouring Syria. Hezbollah has also vowed to respond for the killing of one of its fighters in an Israeli strike in Syria last year.

Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV said on Monday the drone was shot down after it entered Lebanon’s air space and crashed in the village of Blida, near the border with Israel.

Hezbollah fighters now have the unmanned aircraft, the report said.

Intensified low-flying warplanes

The Israeli military said the drone was on operational activity along the border before it crashed. "There is no risk of breach of information,” the military added.

Israeli warplanes and drones violate Lebanon’s airspace almost daily, sometimes to carry out air strikes in neighbouring Syria.

The frequency of low-flying warplanes over Beirut and other parts of Lebanon has intensified in the past weeks, making residents jittery as tensions run high in the region.

Israel and Hezbollah fought to a draw in a month-long war in Lebanon in 2006. Hezbollah has in the past claimed the downing of Israeli drones.