JERUSALEM, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Israeli army said on Thursday that a drone belonging to the Lebanon-based group of Hezbollah has entered Israeli airspace before being intercepted.
"A model airplane belonging to Hezbollah was downed while crossing from Lebanon into Israeli airspace," a military spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson added that the Israeli forces have captured the drone.
The military said that the incident was a "violation of Israeli sovereignty" and is seen "with great severity," adding that Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible for it.
"The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) deploys multilayered defense efforts along all Israeli borders to detect and down aerial infiltrations," the spokesperson warned. "The IDF will continue to thwart any attempt by the Hezbollah terror organization to violate Israeli sovereignty or harm its residents, using various defensive and offensive means."
Israel and Lebanon share a controversial border, occasionally crossed by reconnaissance aircrafts.
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group, and Israel have fought a full-fledged war in 2006, which took place mostly on the Lebanese soil.
