Israeli army reports intercepting 2 drones launched from Lebanon towards Upper, Western Galilee

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli army reported on Saturday that it had intercepted two drones launched from Lebanon towards the Upper and Western Galilee regions in northern Israel.

In separate statements on X, the Israeli army reported, "Following alarms triggered at 08:39-08:41 local time (0539 - 0541GMT) in the Upper Galilee area, the Air Force intercepted a drone launched from Lebanon."

It added that “following the alerts that were activated at 09:04-09:06 local time (0604 - 0606GMT) in the Western Galilee area, the Air Force intercepted an unmanned aircraft that crossed over Lebanese territory.”

“This is the second drone that crossed Lebanese territory in the last hour and was successfully intercepted by the Air Force,” the army claimed.

Shortly before the interception, sirens sounded across several towns in the Upper Galilee, including Kiryat Shmona, Metula, Kfar Giladi, Ma'ayan Baruch, Tel Hai, and Kfar Yuval.

Israel has mounted a huge air campaign in Lebanon since last month against what it claims are Hezbollah targets, in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Israel expanded the conflict this year by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi