Israeli Drone Was on Offensive Mission: Hezbollah
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah said an Israeli drone that crashed into its media center recently had been dispatched on an offensive mission.
On Sunday, Israel flew explosive-laden drones into Lebanon, the movement said on Tuesday.
After the movement's "experts dismantled the first drone that crashed in Beirut's southern suburbs, it was found that it contained a sealed explosive device" of around 5.5 kilograms, it said about the aircraft that crashed into the facility, Press TV reported.
The crash inflicted severe damage onto the building, although the aircraft’s payload did not detonate.
"We confirm that the purpose of this first drone was not reconnaissance but the carrying out of a bombing attack," it added.
A second armed drone then "hit a specific area" before dawn on Sunday. The aircraft attacked Lebanon’s Bakka region near the border with Syria.
After the Sunday incident, Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah issued a stern caution to Tel Aviv, saying the group would act, from then on, to down transgressing Israeli drones.
Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun also said that recent Israeli aerial transgressions against the country amounted to “declaration of war.” The Lebanese head of state said the incursion “allows us to resort to our right to defending our sovereignty.”
United Nations Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body calls for "maximum restraint" by all parties “both in action and rhetoric."
Tel Aviv staged wholesale wars against Lebanon in 2000 and 2006, during both of which it was forced to withdraw after being surprised by Hezbollah’s defensive performance.
