Drone Retaliation: Israeli Jets Buzz Lebanon

Lawmaker accuses Hezbollah of launching Iranian drone
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 7, 2012 3:00 PM CDT
Drone Retaliation: Israeli Jets Buzz Lebanon
Israeli Army vehicles and helicopters are seen in an open area as they search for the remains of a drone in the Negev southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012.   (AP Photo/Yehuda Lachiani)

Israeli fighter planes flew low over Lebanese towns today in apparent retaliation for a mysterious drone that crossed Israel this weekend, the AP reports. The military didn't directly blame Hezbollah—a powerful Shiite group in Lebanon—for the drone, but Haaretz pointed a finger at them and an Israeli lawmaker put it bluntly: "It is an Iranian drone that was launched by Hezbollah," tweeted Miri Regev. "Hezbollah and Iran continue to try to collect information in every possible way in order to harm Israel."

Meanwhile, a Lebanese, Hezbollah-affiliated TV channel reported that the aircraft was in fact launched in Lebanon, reports YNet News. Iranian news websites also took a crack at the story, reporting that the drone revealed a weakness in Israel's missile defense system, reports YNet News. One Iranian site, Javan Online, noted that the region where the drone was downed is key to Israel "for that is where it digs uranium, in the Arad and Sodom area"—an apparent dig over Israel's negative stance on Iran's nuclear facilities. (More drones stories.)

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