JERUSALEM — Israeli fighter jets yesterday shot down a drone that entered the country’s southern desert from the Mediterranean Sea, the military said.
The incident marked the first time in at least six years that a hostile aircraft has penetrated Israel’s airspace. Officials said they were taking the incident seriously, raising the possibility of retaliatory action.
It was not clear who launched the drone, but suspicion quickly fell on the Lebanese Islamic terrorist group Hezbollah. The Iranian-backed group is known to have sent drones into Israeli airspace on several previous occasions. Israeli ground systems detected the drone, which flew from the Mediterranean over the Gaza Strip, yesterday morning, said Lt. Col Avital Leibovich.
Leibovich said Israel was still trying to determine from where the unarmed drone originated.