Israeli military jets carried out several low flying flights over Beirut as reconnaissance drones also buzzed overhead Sunday in what has become a daily occurrence.
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Israel often carries out surveillance efforts over Lebanon and Syria, where Iran is trying to cement its foothold. Israeli strikes on Iranian assets in Syria are said to involve flights in Lebanese airspace.
According to local media, the frequency of low flying warplanes over the Lebanese capital, where the Iranian-backed Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah has several strongholds, has intensified in the last two weeks, making residents jittery as tensions run high in the region on the final days of President Donald Trump's administration.
Israel and Lebanon are technically at war. Hezbollah is a sworn enemy of Israel and the two have had a series of confrontations, including a full-scale war in 2006.
"When the drone leaves, the warplanes come. When the warplanes leave, the drones return. They have seen us in our PJs, filmed us in our PJs and surveilled us in our PJs. Now what," quipped Twitter user Areej_AAH.
Many fear conflict may erupt in the area before Trump leaves office in retaliation for the US killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq last year, or to scuttle efforts by the incoming administration of Joe Biden to negotiate with Iran.
On Friday, the Lebanese Army recorded an Israeli flight that lasted nearly six hours in the country's south.
A Twitter account that tracks aircraft movement in the Middle East, Intel_Sky, has recorded dozens of Israeli jets flying over Lebanon, including mock raids, since the start of the year. Intel_Sky called Sunday's flights "mock raids."
At one point this summer, the Lebanese Army claimed Israel violated its airspace nearly 30 times in two days, flying reconnaissance drones and jets into Lebanese territory.
Israel rarely comments on reports in Arab media regarding its military operations.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon says Israel enters Lebanese airspace on a daily basis, ostensibly in violation of UN resolutions.
Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah said recently that Israel's efforts to curb his group's ability to acquire precision-guided missiles have failed. He boasted that Hezbollah now has twice as many such missiles as it had last year.
Israel has in recent months expressed concern that Hezbollah is trying to establish production facilities to make precision-guided missiles.
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