Fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement have intercepted and shot down an Israeli medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as it was flying in the skies over the Marjeyoun district of southern Lebanon close to the border with the occupied territories.
Hezbollah said in a brief statement that its air defense unit targeted the Hermes 450 drone with a surface-to-air missile on Saturday.
It added that Israeli warplanes bombed Deir Siriane village in Lebanon’s Nabatieh governorate where the downed drone fell.
The resistance group also launched separate barrages of missiles at gatherings of Israeli soldiers in the al-Abad military site near the Lebanese border, as well as in the illegal Manara settlement.
Moreover, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a rocket attack against the Kiryat Shmona settlements in the northern side of the occupied lands.
The Lebanese resistance fighters also struck the Israeli settlements of Baram and Maalot Tarshiha with rocket barrages, causing damage at the targeted sites.
Hezbollah stated that the operations were carried out in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in support of their brave and honorable resistance factions, and in defense of Lebanon.
Also on Saturday, the group fired a salvo of rockets at the northern occupied town of Safed, and targeted the Zvulon military industries base north of Haifa with a rocket barrage.
These come as Israeli military aircraft flattened several buildings in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital after residents had earlier been ordered to flee for their lives.
Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported at least five violent airstrikes on the neighborhoods of Borj al-Barajneh, the Hadath area near the Lebanese University and Haret Hreik.
At least nine people were also killed and dozens more wounded when Israeli air strikes hit the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.
Since September 23, the Israeli army has been launching unprecedented air attacks on Lebanon in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported on Friday that since the onset of hostilities on October 8, 2023, Israeli airstrikes have killed 3,117 people and injured 13,888 across Lebanon.