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The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Thursday said that his Shiite militant group sent an Iranian-built drone that was shot down over Israel last week.
“A sophisticated reconnaissance aircraft was sent from Lebanese territory ... and travelled hundreds of kilometres (miles) over the sea before crossing enemy lines and into occupied Palestine,” Hassan Nasrallah said on television.
He said the drone had overflown sensitive sites in Israel.
“Possession of such an aerial capacity is a first in the history of any resistance movement in Lebanon and the region,” he said.
“It’s not the first time (that a drone was sent) and it will not be the last. We can reach all the zones” of Israel, said Nasrallah, referring to a less sophisticated drone sent by Hezbollah during its 2006 war against Israel.
He said the drone was “Iranian built and assembled in Lebanon.”
Nasrallah’s announcement came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of launching the previously unidentified drone.
“We are acting with determination to protect our borders... as we prevented last weekend an attempt by Hezbollah,” his office quoted him as saying. “We shall continue to act aggressively against all threats.”
Israeli air force jets on Saturday shot down the unarmed drone over southern Israel’s Negev desert after it entered the country’s airspace from the Mediterranean Sea.
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