Israel’s military says it has intercepted three drones fired by Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement targeting an offshore gas field.
Israel’s military says it has intercepted three drones fired by Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement targeting an offshore gas field in the Mediterranean.
“Three hostile drones approaching the airspace in Israel’s economic waters were intercepted,” the army said in a statement on Saturday, adding that the drones were targeting the Karish gas field, which is partly claimed by Lebanon.
The drones were not armed and did not pose a risk, Israeli military sources said.
One drone was intercepted by a fighter jet and the other two by a warship, the sources said.
Hezbollah said on Saturday that it had launched three unarmed drones and that they had completed the mission and “the message had been delivered”. Lebanese authorities did not immediately respond to the incident.
Lebanon condemned Israel last month when a vessel operated by London-listed Greek energy firm Energean entered the Karish field.
Israel maintains that the field is in its waters and is not part of the disputed area subject to ongoing maritime boundary negotiations.
Hezbollah warned Energean not to continue its operations.
Lebanon and Israel resumed talks on their maritime border in 2020, but the process has been stalled by Beirut’s claim that the map used by the UN in the talks must be modified.
Beirut initially claimed 860 sq km (330 sq mi) of the waters, which it said were disputed, but then claimed an additional 1,430 sq km (552 sq mi), including part of the Karish field.
Lebanon hopes to expand offshore oil and gas production as it battles the worst economic crisis in its modern history.
Saturday’s intercepts were the first time an air defense system mounted on an Israeli navy ship shot down an incoming target, the Israeli military said.
Lebanon and Israel remain technically at war and do not have diplomatic relations. UN peacekeepers patrol the border.
Israel fought a devastating war with Hezbollah in 2006 and considers the Iran-backed group one of its main enemies.
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