Illustrative image.
Hezbollah has official confirmed that it was behind the drone that penetrated Israeli airspace on the morning of February 18.
In a statement, Hezbollah said that the drone flew 70 kilometers deep into Israel for 40 minutes before returning to Lebanon. The group revealed that the drone was of a new type dubbed “Hassan”.
The Israeli Defense Forces fired several Iron Done interceptors at the drone. Fighter jets from the Israeli Air Force were also scrambled to intercept it. However, all of these procedures failed. In the end, Tel Aviv acknowledged that the drone returned to Lebanon.
“Despite the enemy’s multiple and successive attempts to shut it down, the Hassan drone returned from the occupied territories safely after it successfully carried out its required mission,” Hezbollah statement reads.
Following Hezbollah’s announcement, several Israeli fighter jets flew over the Lebanese capital, Beirut, at a low altitude. This was likely Tel Aviv’s response to the drone incursion.
صور للمقاتلات الإسرائيلية تحلق على علو منخفض في سماء بيروت
#العربية pic.twitter.com/I57dm1J20s— العربية عاجل (@AlArabiya_Brk) February 18, 2022
مراسلة العربية: مقاتلات إسرائيلية نفذت غارات وهمية في سماء بيروت #العربية pic.twitter.com/K0RCIs4AlZ
— العربية عاجل (@AlArabiya_Brk) February 18, 2022
It’s worth noting that Israeli fighter jets and drones violate Lebanese airspace on a regular basis to spy on Hezbollah, Palestinian factions in the country and neighboring Syria.
Hezbollah drones penetrated Israeli airspace on several occasions in the past. In 2012, a drone launched by the group was shot down over Negev desert in southern Israel, more than 200 kilometers away from the separation line with Lebanon.
