UNIFIL shoots down IDF drone engaged in surveillance over south Lebanon

An Israeli military drone was shot down by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon during a routine surveillance mission in the Kafr Kila area yesterday.

According to the IDF, the drone had posed no threat to the UNIFIL observers, who opened fire on the device and downed it.

UNIFIL said yesterday that the drone flew over its patrol “in an aggressive manner.” It added that “the peacekeepers applied necessary defensive countermeasures to neutralize the drone.”

After the drone was shot down by UNIFIL, the IDF says it flew another drone over the area, which dropped a grenade, apparently to prevent suspects from approaching the site of the downed drone.

UNIFIL claimed yesterday that the grenade was dropped near its patrol, and that an Israeli tank also opened fire toward its observers. The IDF denies this, saying that no gunfire was directed toward the UNIFIL observers.

The military says that the incident is under further investigation “through the military liaison channel.”

Earlier this month, UNIFIL twice accused the IDF of dropping grenades near its observers, including one incident in which an observer was lightly hurt.

In both of those incidents, the IDF said it had attempted to disperse Hezbollah activity, with no intention to harm the UNIFIL observers.

Israel has long argued that the observer force has failed in its mission, doing little to block Hezbollah from building up its forces near the Israeli border over decades.