Lebanese Army Says It Opened Fire At Israeli Drone
quadron 161 (“The Black Snake”) marks its reopening as the only “Zik” Squadron (Hermes 450) in the UAV, absorbing all the “Zik” aircraft from Squadron 166 (“Firebirds”). Taken on 6 December 2020 by Amit Agronov. Source: the Israeli Defense Forces.
On January 13, the Lebanese military announced that its troops had opened fire at an Israeli drone that violated Lebanon’s airspace.
In a statement, the military said that one of its patrol was inspecting a separate violation between the town of Houla and Hunin valley in the South governorate when a “drone belonging to the Israeli enemy violated Lebanese airspace,” prompting troops to begin shooting in its direction.
A Lebanese security source told the Reuters news agency that the drone was not shot down. From its side, the Israeli military said it was not aware of such reports.
Israeli reconnaissance and combat drones violate Lebanon’s airspace on a regular basis. Yet, they are rarely targeted by the Lebanese military, who does not possess any effective air defense systems.
Hezbollah, the main military force in Lebanon’s South, targeted Israeli drones with anti-aircraft missiles on several occasions in the recent years. However, none were shot down. During the same period, several small commercially-available drones were downed by the group’s fighters and Lebanese soldiers with gun fire over the governorate.
It is worth noting that the situation along the separation line between Israel and Lebanon has been calm since October, when the two countries agreed to delineate their maritime border.
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