Israel says it intercepted drone over its ‘economic waters’

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army said Monday that it shot down a drone that breached Israel's northern economic waters.

“A short while ago, a UAV that crossed into Israel's economic waters in the north was successfully intercepted,” a military statement said, without giving further details.

“No sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol,” it added.

The Lebanese group Hezbollah, for its part, said it shelled an Israeli infantry unit at the al-Sadah military site near the Lebanese border, resulting in a direct hit.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 900 people and injuring over 2,700 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Several Hezbollah commanders were killed in the assault, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in an airstrike in Beirut on Friday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said early Thursday that Tel Aviv will only accept a cease-fire in Lebanon when Hezbollah is pushed away from the border to the north of the Litani River and disarmed.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,600 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul