BEIRUT: Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said its operatives shot down an Israeli drone on Monday that was flying over southern Lebanon. It said the unmanned aerial vehicle violated Lebanese airspace in the Wadi Al-Azziya area near the town of Zebqine, southeast of the city of Tyre.
In a message posted on Twitter, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee confirmed a drone had crashed in Lebanon while forces were carrying out routine activities. He added, in Arabic, that there were no concerns about the possibility of any information being leaked as a result.
The incident happened days after Israel warned Lebanon, through the UN, that it would use military force to clear two sites it claimed Hezbollah established inside Israeli territory. The sites are in the Shebaa Farms and the Kfarshouba Hills area, which is on the Israeli side of the Blue Line, a demarcation boundary between the two countries established by the UN in 2000, and which Lebanon considers “occupied Lebanese territory.”
There was a confrontation this month between residents of Kfarshouba and Israeli forces as a result of excavation work by the Israeli army on land owned by people in the Lebanese border town. Two tents were pitched on the other side of the Blue Line. Available information suggests they were placed there by Hezbollah, which considers the area to be “Lebanese territory and the residents have the right to access it.”
The Israeli army occupied the Kfarshouba Heights and surrounding agricultural land in 1978. When it withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, the withdrawal did not extend to Kfarshouba and Shebaa Farms. The area is therefore on the Israeli side of the Blue Line, or withdrawal line.
The position taken by the UN was that the ultimate fate of the territories would be subject to a future resolution of the Israeli-Syrian conflict, because the area is considered to be Syrian territory, according to declared documents, and Syrian authorities failed to provide any documents proving it is actually Lebanese territory, although they did provide verbal acknowledgment.
Israeli military radio reports quoted sources in the army as saying that the new Hezbollah sites do not pose a security threat and that resolving this issue should be done through political and diplomatic channels.
Lebanon maintains enclaves in 13 places along the Blue Line, which extends from the western part of Shebaa Farms to Naqoura.
The latest incident took place in the run-up to the annual renewal of the mandate for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, which is due in September. It could revive the controversy surrounding an amendment to the mandate introduced during last year’s renewal, at the bidding of the US, France and the UK despite Lebanese opposition, according to political observers.
The amendment stipulates that UNIFIL no longer requires prior permission or authorization to carry out assigned tasks and can conduct operations independently, including declared and undeclared patrols.
Lebanese authorities want the amendment removed and the mandate restored to its previous form, which states that UN forces must coordinate all activities with the Lebanese army.
