The IDF revealed Wednesday it had intercepted a drone launched by Hezbollah heading toward Israeli maritime assets last week, hours after the incident was first disclosed by Lebanese media.
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According to the military, the UAV was shot down in Lebanese maritime space, without posing threat or danger to the rig. The drones were identified by detection systems and were monitored throughout their flight by the air control unit before being intercepted at the most optimal point, the IDF spokesperson said, according to Maariv.
Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit
The incident occurred three days before the IDF downed three drones launched by the terror group heading toward Israel's Karish gas platform.
Lebanese news site Al-Akhbar reported that Saturday's attempt preceded an earlier one on Wednesday, which the IDF confirmed.
Israel and Lebanon have been engaged in a dispute over maritime borders and the development of a gas field, participating in negotiations led by the United States.
In June, Israel set up a gas rig in the Karish field, which it says lies within part of its internationally recognized economic waters. Lebanon has claimed it is in disputed waters.
The two countries, which have been officially at war since Israel's establishment in 1948, both claim some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon hopes to exploit offshore gas reserves as it grapples with the worst economic crisis in its modern history.
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