Article author:
Reuters
Jerusalem-Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Saturday that he had sent three unarmed drones to the Israeli Mediterranean gas rig, which Israeli troops said had intercepted.
Iran-backed Shiite armed groups said drones fired at the Kalish gas field were on a reconnaissance mission in the waters claimed by the two countries. "The message was delivered," it said.
There was no immediate response from the Lebanese authorities to this incident. The incident arose in tensions over the location of the Israeli rig and in a long-standing but so far fruitless US-mediated effort to agree on maritime boundaries.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Hezbollah "prevents Lebanon from reaching an agreement on maritime borders that are important to Lebanon's economy and prosperity." rice field.
The Israeli army stated that it had intercepted "three hostile UAVs approaching the airspace of Israel's economic waters."
Israeli security sources also said the drone was not armed.
Saturday's interception was the first time an air defense system onboard an Israeli naval vessel had shot down an incoming target, the military said. (Reported by Dan Williams and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Timour Azhari in Beirut, edited by Kevin Liffey)
