UPDATE - Lebanese Prime Minister Calls Israeli Drones Crash In Beirut Attack On Sovereignty

Umer Jamshaid Published August 25, 2019 | 06:30 PM

BEIRUT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2019) Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has called the incident around the two Israeli drones that crashed in southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday an attack on country's sovereignty.

Earlier in the day, media reported that two Israeli drones crashed near Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut overnight, while one of them exploded in the air. The blast reportedly caused significant damage to the Hezbollah press service's building and left three people injured. According to other reports, one of the drones was shot down by the Hezbollah movement, while the other one was seized.

"Prime Minister Saad Hariri views the crash of two Israeli reconnaissance drones in southern suburbs of Beirut as an open aggression against Lebanon's sovereignty and violation of [UN Security Council] Resolution 1701," the statement issued by prime minister's press office read.

According to the statement, Hariri intends to review further actions with Lebanese President Michel Aoun and the parliament speaker, Nabih Berri.

"The aggression is represented by the repeated intrusion of the Israeli aircraft into the air space of Lebanon and their presence in the space over Beirut," Hariri said adding that Israel's actions threaten regional stability and may provoke a serious crisis.

Later, Aoun denounced the attack as a blatant aggression against Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and claimed it to be a proof of Israeli intentions to disrupt stability in the country and the region.

The incident came hours after Israel attacked what it describes as Iranian forces in Syria southeast of Damascus. The Israeli military claimed that the operation was meant to foil a purported attack of Iranian combat drones against Israel. Tehran, meanwhile, refuted Israeli military's claim the Iranian forces were hit in the attack.

Israel considers Iran and Tehran-backed Hezbollah to be its main rivals in the region. Hezbollah operates a military wing that battled Israel during the latter's invasions of Lebanon. Its military wing is also currently active in Syria, where it is fighting on behalf of the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.