Hezbollah, Lebanese army target Israeli spy drones violating airspace
The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah says it has intercepted and targeted two Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles, which crossed into Lebanon's airspace near the border village of Blida in the south of the Arab country.
Hezbollah said in a brief statement carried by Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Manar television network that it had intercepted an Israeli drone that had entered the Lebanese skies at 22:40 p.m. local time (2040 GMT) on Monday.
The aircraft was targeted with “appropriate weapons,” according to the statement, which was followed by Israeli forces firing flares in the area.
“Another drone that had also trespassed the Lebanese airspace in the same area on Monday afternoon, was confronted with appropriate weapons and forced to retreat to occupied Palestinian territories,” the Hezbollah statement added.
Additionally, the Lebanese army fired at an Israeli drone flying over an army post in Meiss Ej Jabal village of the country’s southern Marjeyoun district.
Israeli forces fired flares at the border with Lebanon, but no injuries were reported, according to witnesses.
Israeli drones frequently violate Lebanon’s airspace on spying missions. Lebanon’s government, Hezbollah and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have repeatedly condemned Israel’s overflights, saying they are in clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and the country’s sovereignty.
The resolution, which brokered a ceasefire in the war Israel launched against Lebanon in 2006, calls on the Israeli regime to respect Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Tensions have been running high between Israel and Hezbollah since July 20 last year, when Tel Aviv killed Hezbollah member Ali Kamel Mohsen in an airstrike in Syria.
The Israeli military has placed its forces near the Lebanese and Syrian borders on high alert after Hezbollah promised retaliation.
Israeli forces shelled the Lebanese village of Habaria in late July to stop an alleged Hezbollah offensive, but the Lebanese movement dismissed the allegation, calling it the result of tension and confusion among Israeli forces.
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