Israel denies IDF drone shot down over Lebanon

“An anti-aircraft missile was launched over Lebanese territory toward an IDF UAV. The UAV was not hit,” said the Israeli military statement.

By World Israel News Staff 

The Israel Defense Forces is denying Lebanese social media reports of an Israeli drone having been shot down in southern Lebanon on Thursday.

“An anti-aircraft missile was launched over Lebanese territory toward an IDF UAV. The UAV was not hit,” said the Israeli military statement.

The state-run Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) had reported that “a blast has been heard in Nabatieh of South Lebanon,” saying that “the source and cause of the blast remain unknown; however, the blast coincided with intensive Israeli enemy spying flights in the airspace of different regions.”

Last week, the state-run news agency said that a Lebanese man had shot down an Israeli drone with a hunting rifle near the border village of Kfar Kila.

The Israeli military said that the drone “fell” over a Lebanese village near the heavily-guarded border “during routine security activity.” The IDF declined to comment on the type of drone or the cause of the crash.

A Lebanese government investigation concluded last month that two Israeli drones were on an attack mission when they crashed in Beirut in August.

“Iran is trying to turn its proxy Hezbollah into the first terror group in the world with precision-guided missiles,” said the IDF at the time.

The Israeli military posted to Twitter images of a Hezbollah compound that it says the terror group is using to pursue Iran’s campaign to wipe out the Jewish state.

“We can now reveal that inside this Hezbollah facility is Iranian-supplied machinery used to manufacture precision-guided missiles with an accuracy of less than 10 meters,” tweeted the IDF.

In June, a drone flying from Lebanon infiltrated Israeli airspace.

The IDF said that an Israeli military force identified the drone, which had entered from Lebanese territory into Israel. It was permitted to return to Lebanon, according to the IDF statement.

Israel and Iranian proxy Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, monitor each other’s activity but appear to be trying to prevent action which could lead to an all-out military confrontation.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi says that Israel’s primary strategic threat remains Iranian entrenchment near its borders and its efforts to develop precision missiles with which to attack the Jewish State.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.