Israeli drone downed on Lebanese territory, says Hezbollah

Beirut, Feb 1 (efe-epa).- The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Monday claimed it had downed an Israeli drone flying over southern Lebanon.

 Israeli authorities, however, said the drone crashed during an operational flight, in the second incident of its kind in 10 days.

“On the morning of this Monday, February 1, 2021, the Islamic Resistance shot down a drone belonging to the Israeli enemy that penetrated Lebanese airspace over the outskirts of the town of Blida, in southern Lebanon,” the Shiite militia said in a statement sent to Efe.

The drone is at Hezbollah’s hands, the statement read.

The Israeli army, for its part, said that the drone “fell” into the Lebanese territory during “an operational activity” along the Blue Line, a border demarcation between the two countries set by the United Nations.

There is no “risk” of information leak as a result of the incident, the Israeli army said in a statement.

This came 10 days after the Israeli army downed a drone entering the Israeli airspace from Lebanon.

Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace have recently increased, with fighter jets being heard in Beirut on an almost daily basis since late December. It has prompted the Lebanese government to file a complaint to the United Nations. EFE-EPA

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