Hezbollah says it downed Israeli drone over border

By Wassim Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) — Lebanese group Hezbollah announced Saturday that it downed an Israeli drone with a surface-to-air missile over the Galilee Panhandle area.

In a statement, the group said that it "shot down an enemy Israeli Hermes 450 aircraft, a multi-mission combat drone, with a surface-to-air missile" in the region close to Lebanon's southern border.

Hezbollah pointed out that its fighters "launched the missile at 1.45 a.m. local time Saturday (2345GMT Friday), and its debris was seen falling over the Galilee Panhandle area."

No statement has yet been made by Israel.

Tension has flared up along the Israel-Lebanon border amid intermittent exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

The border tension comes as Israel widened its air and ground operations in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Israeli border towns on Oct. 7.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi