‘Israel sent drone over Hizbullah area’

BEIRUT: The Lebanese army on Sunday accused Israel of sending a reconnaissance drone at the weekend over Beirut’s southern suburbs, a bastion of the Hizbullah group.

On August 25, two explosives-laden drones were sent to the same area. One of them exploded, sparking a dangerous escalation between Hizbullah and Israel. On Saturday night, "one of the Israel enemy’s reconnaissance drones violated Lebanese air space... overflew the southern suburbs and left," the army said in a statement.

The Iran-backed Hizbullah is represented in Lebanon’s government and parliament but is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel and Washington, which has stepped up the financial pressure on the organisation.

The August incident heightened regional tensions, which culminated in a cross-border exchange of fire in early September. Hizbullah vowed then that it would shoot down any Israeli drones violating Lebanon’s air space.