Israel raises alertness on Lebanese southern borders

The Israeli Army raised on Friday upped the security of its forces along the southern borders after a drone was allegedly shot down in the Israeli region of Haifa yesterday.
              
For their part, the Lebanese Armed Forces and the UNIFIL increased their surveillance activities in anticipation of any military development.                             

This as Israeli forces carried out intense movements along the region which extends from Al-Mtoleh and Ghajar towards the Shebaa farms and Kfarchouba.                   

In this context, intensive Israeli flights were witnessed over the Shebaa Farms and the Arkoub region.                         

Israel shot down a drone Thursday April 25th as it approached the country's northern coast, the military said. Suspicion immediately fell on Lebanon’s Hezbollah which denied it sent the craft.                 

Hezbollah's Al Manar TV made the announcement Thursday through a one line statement flashed as an urgent news bar on its screen.                      

Despite the denial, the incident was likely to raise already heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a group that battled Israel to a stalemate during a monthlong war in 2006.
             
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he was in a helicopter in northern Israel at the time of the incident, said he viewed the infiltration attempt with "utmost gravity."    
              
Officials said Netanyahu was informed of the unfolding incident as he was flying north for a cultural event with members of the country's Druze minority. They said his helicopter briefly landed while the drone was intercepted before Netanyahu continued on his way.                                             

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes flew over the Christian town of Jezzine and the highlands of the Iqlim al-Tuffah province, a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, Thursday morning.                

The Lebanese army also reported Israeli jets violated Lebanese air space on Tuesday and Wednesday. Israel has stepped up its flights over Lebanon amid fears that Hezbollah is taking advantage of the chaos caused by the Syrian civil war.