Hezbollah claims it downed Israeli drone in southern Lebanon

The IDF said the drone was “simple” and that there was no risk of a breach of information.

By World Israel News Staff and AP

Hezbollah, a terror group which is also a member of the Lebanese government, says that it shot down an Israeli drone over southern Lebanon early Monday, shortly after the unmanned aerial vehicle crossed from Israel.

A Hezbollah statement said the drone was downed with “suitable weapons” over the village of Ramieh and that it is now in the organization’s hands. The statement added no further details.

The Israeli military said that a “drone on a routine mission in northern Israel fell,” but did not elaborate on what it was doing nor how it was downed.

The IDF said the drone was “simple” and that there was no risk of a breach of information if it fell into enemy hands. The military said the drone fell Sunday, not Monday. The reason for the discrepancy was not clear.

Last month, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his group would confront and shoot down any Israeli drones that enter Lebanese airspace.

In August, Hezbollah blamed Israel for a drone attack that hit a ‘heavy mixer,‘ a component critical to the creation of fuel for precision rockets, temporarily being housed at Hezbollah’s propaganda offices in Beirut. Israel didn’t take credit for that strike.

Last week, Israel and Hezbollah traded fire for the first time in years. Hezbollah launched anti-tank missiles at an Israeli armored vehicle near the border, causing no casualties. Israel retaliated with artillery fire into southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said last week’s missile attack was retaliation for an Israeli airstrike near Damascus last month that killed two of its members. Israel said the attack thwarted an Iranian-orchestrated drone attack squad.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006.

The Iran-backed terror group vows to destroy Israel, not even acknowledging the Jewish State’s existence.

In its report on Monday of the latest drone incident crossing from Israel into Lebanon, the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar television station referred to the border as a crossing between Lebanon and Palestine, not Israel, even though the area is part of Israel’s internationally recognized territory.