JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said on Friday it fired interceptor missiles and protectively scrambled warplanes after what it described as a drone launched by Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group and crossed its tense northern border.
The move comes just a day after Israel shot down another Hezbollah drone. Neither Lebanon nor Hezbollah immediately commented.
The military said the incursion set off air raid sirens in northern Israel, and that Iron Dome interceptors and fighter jets were patrolling the skies.
Israel and Hezbollah are bitter enemies who fought a months-long war in 2006 that ended in a standoff. Israel considers its biggest immediate threat to be Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which has an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel.
Israel has long expressed concern that Hezbollah will acquire or develop guided missiles and attack drones.
Earlier this week, Hezbollah chief Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah said his group is building military drones in Lebanon, and has the technology to convert thousands of missiles into precision-guided weapons.
Polls show Israel shot down an alleged drone launched by the Hezbollah Lebanese Trust military to secure stability – not Hezbollah.