Beirut (AFP)
The Lebanese army fired on Wednesday against Israeli drones flying over southern Lebanon, a very rare intervention that occurs in full tension between the two neighboring countries.
According to the command of the Lebanese army, three Israeli drones violated Lebanese airspace, and the military fired two of them who returned to Israel.
These incidents follow Lebanon's warnings to Israel after Sunday's attack by an armed drone against a stronghold of the powerful Lebanese Hezbollah movement in Beirut, attributed to the Jewish state.
Lebanon and its Israeli neighbor are still technically in a state of war. Hezbollah, Israel's pet peeve, is a major political player in Lebanon and an ally of Iran, another arch-enemy of the Jewish state.
The attack on Hezbollah's stronghold has been presented by the leader of this movement Hassan Nasrallah as Israel's "first act of aggression" in Lebanon since the 2006 war between the Jewish state and Hezbollah, which made 1,200 dead on the Lebanese side and 160 on the Israeli side.
"An Israeli enemy drone violated Lebanese airspace by flying over an army position in Al Adaysse, where the military fired at the aircraft forcing it to turn back. overflown the same post and the soldiers also opened fire, "said the command in a statement.
"A third drone flew over the Kafarkala area for a while before leaving Lebanese airspace," he added.
The Lebanese national news agency ANI reported the overflight by a fourth drone from southern Lebanon, a border region of Israel, but was not the target of shooting.
- Reciprocal threats -
These interventions of the Lebanese army respond to "previous instructions that any Israeli movement within Lebanese borders will be the target of fire," according to a military source in Beirut.
In Israel, the military said in a statement that "shots were fired from Lebanese territory into an airspace in which drones from the Israeli armed forces were operating.The drones have completed their mission and no damage has been done. reported ".
After Sunday's attack on the Hezbollah stronghold, which has not been confirmed by Israel, the Lebanese authorities have said they have the right to defend their country "by all means against aggression".
Hassan Nasrallah directly threatened Israel with reprisals. "I say to the Israeli army at the borders (...) Get ready and wait for us".
He added that the time when Israeli drones flew over Lebanon without being worried was over. From now on, "whenever Israeli drones enter Lebanese airspace, we will try to shoot them".
In return, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hassan Nasrallah and the Lebanese state to beware of what they "say and do".
- Facing Iran -
According to Hezbollah, an Israeli drone containing more than five kilograms of explosives fell in the southern suburbs of Beirut and a second exploded and caused "significant damage" in a "media center" of the movement.
According to the London Times, Israeli drones fell near Iran's facilities to produce a fuel essential to the manufacture of precision missiles. According to Western intelligence sources quoted by the Times, drones fell near sites containing a blender and components, which mix, serve as fuel for high-precision missiles.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army refused to comment on the Times article.
Considered by Israel and the United States as a "terrorist organization," Hezbollah militarily intervenes in the conflict in neighboring Syria in support of Bashar al-Assad's regime, alongside Iran.
Last Saturday, the Israeli army claimed that it had struck near Damascus the positions of the Iranian force Al-Quds, in order to prevent an attack by this elite unit "against targets in northern Israel with killer drones." ".
But Nasrallah said the raids hit a Hezbollah position, killing two of his fighters. Iran has denied that positions of al-Quds force have been affected.
© 2019 AFP