The traditionally tense relations between Israel and Lebanon worsened last year in the wake of an alleged Israeli drone attack in Beirut against a Hezbollah media office.
The Israeli army said on Friday that it had downed a drone that had crossed the border from Lebanon.
“The drone was monitored by the Israel Defense Forces throughout the incident,” the military said in a statement.
This comes on the back of another episode of escalation in the region earlier in the day as Syria’s state media reported that the Syrian air defence systems repelled an Israeli rocket attack in Hama.
The attack was reportedly launched from Lebanon’s Tripoli city and left four people killed and another four injured, in addition to destroying three houses.
Lebanon and Israel have tense bilateral relations, with the latter repeatedly crossing the neighbouring country’s air, sea and land borders and using the Lebanese airspace to launch strikes at Syria aimed at alleged targets of the Beirut-based Hezbollah movement.
In addition, the two countries have rivalling claims over territorial waters and exclusive economic zones.
Over the course of October 2020, the parties held three negotiating sessions at the headquarters of the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon in the southernmost town of Naqoura in an attempt to solve the maritime border issue.
Sputnik