Israel shot down a drone Thursday as it approached the country's
northern coast, the military said. Suspicion immediately fell on the
Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
The incident was likely to
raise already heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a bitter
enemy that battled Israel to a stalemate during a monthlong war in
2006.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in northern
Israel at the time of the incident, said he viewed the infiltration
attempt with "utmost gravity."
"We will continue to do everything necessary in order to protect the security of the citizens of Israel," he said.
Lt.
Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said the unmanned aircraft was
detected as it was flying over Lebanon and tracked as it approached
Israeli airspace.
Lerner said the military waited for the aircraft
to enter Israeli airspace, confirmed it was "enemy," and an F-16
warplane shot it down.
The drone was flying at an altitude of
about 6,000 feet and was downed roughly five miles off the Israeli coast
near the northern city of Haifa. Lerner said Israeli naval forces were
searching for the remains of the aircraft.
He declined to say who
sent the drone. But other military officials, speaking on condition of
anonymity because they were not permitted to talk to the media, said
they believed it was an Iranian-manufactured aircraft sent by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah sent a drone into Israeli airspace last October that Israel
also shot down.
Netanyahu was informed of the unfolding incident
as he was flying north for a cultural event with members of the
country's Druse minority. Officials said his helicopter briefly landed
while the drone was intercepted before Netanyahu continued on his way.
Netanyahu
repeatedly has warned that Hezbollah might try to take advantage of the
instability in neighboring Syria, a key Hezbollah ally, to obtain what
he calls game-changing weapons.
Israel has all but confirmed that
it carried out an airstrike in Syria early this year that destroyed a
shipment of sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles bound for Hezbollah.
A
senior Lebanese security official, who also spoke on condition of
anonymity in line with regulations, said Lebanon had no information on
Thursday's incident.
Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim Moussawi also
said he had no information, adding the group would put out a statement
if it had something to say on the issue.
When Israeli military
shot down a Hezbollah drone on Oct. 6, it took days for Hezbollah leader
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah to confirm it in a speech. He warned at the time
that it would not be the last such operation by the group. He said the
sophisticated aircraft was made in Iran and assembled by Hezbollah.
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