Israel fires on new drone from Lebanon
Israel's military said its air defences fired at an unmanned aerial vehicle that had crossed into its airspace from Lebanon yesterday, the second such incident in as many days.
Air raid sirens were sounded, sending residents into bomb shelters after "a radio-controlled aircraft crossed into Israeli airspace from Lebanon", the military said in a statement.
"As a result... aerial defence systems were activated" and "after a few minutes, radar contact was lost with the aircraft," it added, indicating that the drone was not intercepted.
The Israeli Air Force said in a tweet that "Iron Dome interceptors were launched" and that fighter jets were scrambled to patrol the area.
The army had announced on Thursday it had shot down a drone that it said was launched into Israeli airspace by Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia movement backed by Israel's nemesis Iran.
That came a day after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had boasted about his organisation's new drone and missile capabilities.
In a speech, Nasrallah said "it is no secret to the Israelis... that we have the capacity to transform our missiles into precision missiles".
"In Lebanon, for a long time, we have started to manufacture drones. Whoever wants to buy them can place an order!" he declared.
Neighbours Lebanon and Israel are technically in a state of war and drones have become a regular feature of their heavily guarded border.
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