Minister Mansour: Israel's airspace violations intensify tensions in the region

Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Adnan Mansour said on Saturday that the continuous Israeli violations of the Lebanese airspace breach Lebanon's sovereignty.

He called on the international community to urge Israel respecting the international resolutions, mainly resolution 1701.

Caretaker Minister Mansour said that such violations will intensify tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Israeli drones have been on a continuous assault of Lebanon's airspace conducting medium to low altitude overflights since Wednesday and Thursday overnight.

Haaretz newspaper said on Friday on its online website that the intensified Israeli flights over Lebanon are related to fears of chemical weapons smuggling from Syria to Hezbollah.

Also on Thursday night, an Israeli five-member foot patrol breached at 14.00 pm the withdrawal line near al-Naqqar pond in the Shabaa region, the Army Command-Guidance Directorate said in a communiqué.

The Israeli patrol attempted to kidnap a Lebanese shepherd, only to pull back later inside the occupied territories.

Army units deployed in the area, adopted the necessary defensive measures, and they followed up on the matter with UNIFIL forces in south Lebanon.