Friday, April 26, 2013

Lebanon's Hezbollah Denies Israel's Drone Claim

Lebanon’s Hezbollah denies Israel’s drone claim

Thu Apr 25, 2013 7:54PM GMT
presstv.ir

The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has denied a claim by Israeli military officials that the movement had sent an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Lebanese television Al-Manar made the announcement Thursday through a one-line statement flashed as an urgent news bar on its screen.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said it shot down a UAV belonging to Hezbollah near the northern port of Haifa.

A military spokeswoman said the drone was detected in Lebanese skies and was intercepted by an F-16 fighter jet, some nine kilometers (5 miles) off Haifa’s western coastline.

A helicopter carrying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was visiting the Druze community in the north, was forced to land while the drone was intercepted.

In a statement, Netanyahu said the incident was of “extreme gravity.”

The Israeli navy is reportedly searching for the wreckage of the drone in the sea.

Last October, a UAV sent by Hezbollah flew deep into Israel before being downed by an Israeli missile.

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