IAF planes said spotted flying low over Lebanon

Local media says Israeli fighter jets seen above south and east Lebanon, including Shebaa Farms

Israeli Air Force planes were seen flying at a low altitude above southern and eastern Lebanon on Sunday morning, Israel Radio quoted a Lebanese media outlet as saying.

Israeli fighter planes were spotted in the skies over several locations, including in the east above the Baalbek region of the Beqaa Valley, and in the south above Arqoub and Shebaa Farms, where the Syria-Lebanese border meets the Golan Heights, according to Lebanon’s el-Nashra news agency.

Israeli officials have raised alarms over the presence of Iranian and Hezbollah fighters using positions in the Syrian Golan, partially held by rebel forces, to attack Israel.

At the end of July, several people were killed in a reported Israeli airstrike on a car in the Syrian Golan Heights near the border with Israel. Lebanese media reported that three men were killed who were members of militias affiliated with Iran, but a human rights organization reported that five men were killed, two of whom were Hezbollah members and three of whom were members of groups supportive of the Syrian regime.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah is a close ally of the Syrian government and has dispatched fighters to bolster the army against the uprising that began in March 2011.

In June, Channel 2 denied reports by Lebanese media outlets that Israeli jets had struck near the city of Brital, inflicting casualties in an attack against Hezbollah.

In the beginning of the year, Israel reportedly carried out an airstrike on a group of Iranian and Hezbollah fighters, killing six people, including Hezbollah commander Jihad Mughniyeh and an Iranian general.

Times of Israel staff and AFP contributed to this report.

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