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Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it shot down an Israeli unmanned aircraft outside the southern town of Ramyah, the movement’s Al-Manar TV said early on Monday.
The drone is now in the hands of Hezbollah’s fighters, the Iran-backed group added in a statement.
Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged fire at the border in recent weeks.
Last week, Israel had accused Hezbollah of building a precision-missile factory in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
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Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire at Lebanon border |
Tensions flared after Hezbollah said the Israelis were behind a drone attack on one of its compounds.
At the time, Hezbollah said a drone had landed on the roof of a building housing its media office in south Beirut, while another drone exploded mid-air.
That attack was condemned by Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri as an open attack on his country’s sovereignty.
In response, Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles into Israel, destroying a military vehicle.
Israel then returned more fire, sending approximately 100 artillery shells into Lebanon.
Israel’s army has claimed that Iran was collaborating with Hezbollah to convert “stupid rockets into precision-guided missiles”, through a plan to smuggle the required components into Lebanon.
In late August, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused Israel of using the group’s capability with precision-guided missiles as a pretext for attacks.
Israel has recently expressed concerns that Hezbollah and Iran are pursuing a missile-production industry in Lebanon. On Saturday, Nasrallah said the group did not “have factories to produce precision-guided missiles in Lebanon.”
Hezbollah and Israel fought a month-long war in 2006. The volatile border between the two countries, which remain technically in a state of war, has been mostly calm since.
