The Iran-backed Hizbollah movement said on Monday it had downed and seized an
Israeli drone as it flew across the Lebanese border, a week after a flash confrontation between the arch-foes. Israel's army said a drone it was operating "fell" in
Lebanon on Sunday. In what appeared to be a response, an air strike at "around midnight" killed 18 pro-Iranian fighters in eastern Syria, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights could not confirm whether that raid was Israeli. Later on Monday, the Israeli army said rockets had been fired from
Syria but failed to reach their targets. Hizbollah had issued a statement saying that some of its fighters "confronted with the appropriate weapons an Israeli drone" heading towards the Lebanese border village of Ramyeh overnight. Hizbollah The Shia militant group said it subsequently retrieved the device, but did not provide pictures. An Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP a drone "fell" in Lebanese territory, adding that "there is no risk of a breach of information". The incident was a sequel to an escalation between the two enemy states that started on the evening August 24 when an Israeli strike killed two Hizbollah operatives in Syria. Israel said that strike was to prevent a drone attack on its territory by an Iranian force. The operation was followed hours later by what Hizbollah described as an Israeli drone attack on its Beirut stronghold. That led to an escalation in rhetoric and heightened fears of all-out conflict between Hizbollah and Israel, whose main allies
Iran and the
United States, respectively, are also at loggerheads. On September 1, Hizbollah fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military vehicle and battalion headquarters and Israel responded with a salvo of artillery shells.