A Hezbollah official said Sunday that an Israeli drone went down over the Lebanon's capital of Beirut and another exploded in the air, AP reported.
Eyewitnesses reported one large explosion shocking an area at the Iranian-backed group’s stronghold in southern Beirut. According to them, the explosion triggered a fire near the militant group’s media office in Moawwad neighborhood, expecting that it has been caused by an Israeli drone that went down in the area amid Israeli air activity in neighboring Syria.
The residents told AP that they heard an aircraft flying just before the blast and reported later that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group sealed off the area.
According to AP, one building appeared to be slightly damaged where the drone went down.
The latest development came amid regional tensions between Israel and Iran, as
Israeli warplanes regularly violate Lebanese airspace and have struck inside neighboring Syria from Lebanon on numerous occasions aimed at what they said as Iranian military targets.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli army said that its air force “struck in Syria to prevent an Iranian force from launching an attack on the Jewish state with drones armed with explosives”.
According to British ‘The Guardian’, Israel, despite operating regularly in Syria, rarely acknowledges its actions so swiftly, with its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warning arch-foe Iran it had no immunity from his state’s military.
Minutes after the strike, Netanyahu hailed the military’s “major operational effort”. He said: “Iran has no immunity anywhere, our forces operate in every sector against the Iranian aggression.”
Earlier reports also quoted US officials saying that Israeli strikes have also hit Iranian targets in Iraq.
Hezbollah and Israel fought a monthlong war in 2006. The volatile border between the two countries, which remain technically in a state of war, has been mostly calm since.
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