Lebanese security stand near the site where an Israeli drone was said to have crashed in a stronghold of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2019. A Hezbollah official said Sunday that an Israeli drone went down over the Lebanese capital of Beirut and another exploded in the air, amid regional tensions between Israel and Iran. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

BEIRUT (AP) — Two Israeli drones crashed in a Hezbollah stronghold in the Lebanese capital overnight without the militants firing on them, a spokesman for the group said Sunday, saying the first fell on the roof of a building housing Hezbollah’s media office while the second landed in a plot behind it.

The drones crashed amid heightened tensions between neighboring Israel and Iran, which backs Hezbollah, and shortly after Israeli warplanes attacked targets near the Syrian capital, Damascus. Israeli aircraft buzzed over Beirut on Sunday, hours after the drones crashed, raising fears of a wider conflict.

Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif said a small, unmanned reconnaissance drone fell on a building housing Hezbollah’s media office in the Moawwad neighborhood in Dahyeh, the group’s stronghold in southern Beirut.

He said a second drone, which appeared to have been sent by Israel to search for the first one less than 45 minutes later, exploded in the air and crashed in an empty plot nearby, causing damage to nearby buildings. He said the second drone was likely armed judging by the damage it caused.

Residents said they heard a loud blast that triggered a nighttime fire.

“We did not shoot down or explode any of the drones,” Afif told The Associated Press.

He said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will give the official and “appropriate” response in a previously-scheduled televised appearance later Sunday.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on Hezbollah’s remarks.

AP journalists on the scene Sunday said the 11-floor building that houses Hezbollah’s media office as well as nearby buildings suffered minor damage and broken glass. On the second floor, where the group has its offices, shattered glass littered the floors and some of the desks were overturned. A portrait of Nasrallah was on a desk littered with glass.

A Lebanese army statement said an Israeli drone came down while the other exploded in the sky over Beirut, causing material damage.

Israeli warplanes regularly violate Lebanese airspace and have struck inside neighboring Syria from Lebanon on several occasions, angering Hezbollah and Lebanese officials, who have complained to the United Nations.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri described the crash of the two drones as a violation and “aggression” against Lebanese sovereignty. He said the developments overnight constitute a threat to regional stability and an attempt to push the situation toward more escalation.

Late Saturday, Israeli warplanes struck targets near the Syrian capital in what the Israeli military said was a successful effort to thwart an imminent Iranian drone strike on Israel. The late-night airstrike, which triggered Syrian anti-aircraft fire, appeared to be one of the most intense attacks by Israeli forces in several years.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group, reported that two Hezbollah members and an Iranian militiaman were killed in that attack.

But an Iranian general said the Israeli strikes in Syria did not cause any damage or casualties among Iranian forces there.

The semi-official ILNA news agency quoted Gen. Mohsen Rezaei on Sunday as calling the Israeli claims a “lie.” Rezaei, a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, said “the defenders of Syria and Iraq will soon give an answer” to recent attacks by Israel and the United States.

In recent days, U.S. officials have said that Israeli strikes have hit Iranian targets in Iraq, in what would be a significant expansion of Israel’s campaign targeting Iranian military entrenchment in the region. Iran supports Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as an array of government-allied militias in Syria and Iraq.

Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks in recent years targeting Hezbollah and other Iranian targets in Syria. Israel views Iran as its greatest threat and has said it will not tolerate a permanent Iranian presence in Syria or the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah.

Iran and Hezbollah are key military allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad in that country’s eight-year-old civil war.

Hezbollah and Israel fought a monthlong war in 2006. The volatile border between the two countries, which remain technically in a state of war, has been mostly calm since. </s> BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the reported crash of two Israeli drones in Lebanon, following Israeli attacks on Iranian targets in neighboring Syria (all times local):

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has described the crash of two Israeli reconnaissance drones over Beirut as a violation and "aggression" against Lebanese sovereignty.

He said Sunday that the developments overnight constitute a threat to regional stability and an attempt to push the situation toward more escalation.

Hariri's comments were the first by a senior Lebanese official after two Israeli drones crashed in a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut.

Israeli warplanes regularly violate Lebanese airspace and have struck inside neighboring Syria from Lebanon on several occasions, angering Hezbollah and Lebanese officials, who have complained to the United Nations in the past.

An Iranian general says Israeli strikes in Syria did not cause any damage or casualties among Iranian forces there.

The semi-official ILNA news agency quoted Gen. Mohsen Rezaei on Sunday as denying claims by the Israeli military that it thwarted an imminent Iranian drone attack on Israel, calling that a "lie."

Rezaei, a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard, says "the defenders of Syria and Iraq will soon give an answer" to recent attacks by Israel and the United States.

Iran is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad and has sent military advisers and militias to aid his forces. Israel has repeatedly struck Iran-linked targets in Syria, saying it won't tolerate a permanent Iranian presence there or the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah.

In recent days, U.S. officials have said that Israeli strikes have also hit Iranian targets in Iraq, in what would be a significant expansion of Israel's campaign targeting Iranian military entrenchment in the region.

A spokesman for Lebanon's Hezbollah says two Israeli drones crashed in Beirut without the militant group firing on them.

Mohammed Afif says a small, unmanned reconnaissance drone fell on the roof of a building housing Hezbollah's media office in the Moawwad neighborhood in Dahyeh, the group's stronghold in the southern part of the Lebanese capital.

He says a second drone which appeared to have been sent by Israel to search for the first drone less than 45 minutes later exploded in the air and crashed nearby — an explosion heard by residents of the area.

Afif told The Associated Press Sunday: "We did not shoot down or explode any of the drones."

He says Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will give the "appropriate" response in a televised appearance later Sunday. </s> Israeli aircraft continued to violate Lebanese airspace on Sunday, flying low over Beirut hours after the drones crashed, raising fears of a wider conflict.

Hezbollah spokesperson Mohammed Afif said a small, unmanned reconnaissance drone fell on a building housing Hezbollah's media office in the Moawwad neighbourhood in Dahyeh, the group's stronghold in southern Beirut.

He said a second drone, which appeared to have been sent by Israel to search for the first one less than 45 minutes later, exploded in the air and crashed in an empty plot nearby, shattering windows in surrounding buildings.

Residents said they heard a loud blast that triggered a nighttime fire.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on the drone incident or Hezbollah's remarks.

Associated Press journalists on the scene Sunday said the 11-floor building that houses Hezbollah's media office, as well as nearby buildings, suffered minor damage and broken glass. On the second floor, where the group has its offices, shattered glass littered the floors and some of the desks were overturned. A portrait of Nasrallah was on a desk littered with glass.

A Lebanese army statement said an Israeli drone came down while the other exploded in the sky over Beirut, causing material damage.

Israeli warplanes regularly violate Lebanese airspace and have struck inside neighbouring Syria from Lebanon on several occasions, angering Hezbollah and Lebanese officials, who have complained to the United Nations.

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry counted 481 Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace in the past two months, and instructed Lebanon's representative to the UN to submit an immediate complaint.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said the crash of the two drones constitutes a threat to regional stability and an attempt to push the situation toward more escalation.

Israel's late-night airstrike Saturday in Syria, which triggered Syrian anti-aircraft fire, appeared to be one of the most intense attacks by Israeli forces in several years.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesperson, said Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Al Quds force, working with allied Shiite militias, had been planning to send a number of explosives-laden attack drones into Israel.

Conricus said Israel had monitored the plot for several months and on Thursday prevented Iran from making an "advanced attempt" to execute the same plan. Iran then tried again late Saturday to carry out the same attack, he said.

He declined to give specifics on what targets the Iranians intended to strike.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group, reported that two Hezbollah members and an Iranian militiaman were killed in the Israeli attack Saturday night.

But a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, said the Israeli strikes in Syria did not cause any damage or casualties among Iranian forces there, adding that "the defenders of Syria and Iraq will soon give an answer" to recent attacks by Israel and the United States.

In recent days, U.S. officials have said that Israeli strikes have hit Iranian targets in Iraq, in what would be a significant expansion of Israel's campaign targeting Iranian military entrenchment in the region. Iran supports Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as an array of government-allied militias in Syria and Iraq.

Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks in recent years targeting Hezbollah and other Iranian targets in Syria. Israel views Iran as its greatest threat and has said it will not tolerate a permanent Iranian presence in Syria or the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah.

Iran and Hezbollah are key military allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's eight-year-old civil war.

Hezbollah and Israel fought a month-long war in 2006. The volatile border between the two countries, which remain technically in a state of war, has been mostly calm since. </s> Lebanese security stand near the site where an Israeli drone was said to have crashed in a stronghold of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2019. A Hezbollah official said Sunday that an Israeli drone went down over the Lebanese capital of Beirut and another exploded in the air, amid regional tensions between Israel and Iran. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah said Sunday that his group will confront and shoot down any Israeli drones that enter Lebanese airspace from now on, raising the potential for conflict amid heightened regional tensions.

Hassan Nasrallah also vowed to retaliate to an Israeli airstrike inside Syria that took place hours earlier, which he said killed two Hezbollah members.

Nasrallah’s speech came after one alleged Israeli drone crashed in a Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut, landing on the roof of a building that houses Hezbollah’s media office, while another exploded and crashed in a plot behind the building, causing material damage, authorities said.

A Hezbollah spokesman said earlier Sunday that the group did not fire on any of the drones. He said the second drone was likely armed, judging by the damage it caused.

Nasrallah said one of the drones had been flying low among buildings, calling it a military “suicide mission” and “a clear aggression.”

He said allowing Israel to keep flying drones over Lebanon would lead to a similar situation as in Iraq, where a series of attacks there targeting military bases and weapons depot belonging to Iranian-backed militias have left the country on edge. U.S. officials say at least one of them was carried out by Israel.

In Saturday’s strikes near the Syrian capital, Israel publicly stated it was thwarting an imminent drone strike against Israel by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Al Quds Force.

But Nasrallah said the strikes actually hit a Hezbollah rest house, marking a rare acknowledgement of member deaths in Syria by Israeli strikes.

“I tell Israeli soldiers on the border (with Lebanon) to be cautious and wait. Maybe in a day or two or three or four… do not think for a moment that Hezbollah will allow such matters to pass,” he added.

The downed drones and cross-border airstrikes come amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, which backs Hezbollah.

Israeli aircraft continued to violate Lebanese airspace Sunday, flying low over Beirut hours after the drones crashed, raising fears of a wider conflict.

Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif said a small, unmanned reconnaissance drone fell on a building housing Hezbollah’s media office in the Moawwad neighborhood in Dahyeh, the group’s stronghold in southern Beirut.

He said a second drone, which appeared to have been sent by Israel to search for the first one less than 45 minutes later, exploded in the air and crashed in an empty plot nearby, shattering windows in surrounding buildings.

Residents said they heard a loud blast that triggered a nighttime fire.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on the drone incident or Hezbollah’s remarks.

AP journalists on the scene Sunday said the 11-floor building that houses Hezbollah’s media office as well as nearby buildings suffered minor damage and broken glass. On the second floor, where the group has its offices, shattered glass littered the floors and some of the desks were overturned. A portrait of Nasrallah was on a desk littered with glass.

A Lebanese army statement said an Israeli drone came down while the other exploded in the sky over Beirut, causing material damage.

Israeli warplanes regularly violate Lebanese airspace and have struck inside neighboring Syria from Lebanon on several occasions, angering Hezbollah and Lebanese officials, who have complained to the United Nations.

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry counted 481 Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace in the past two months and instructed Lebanon’s representative to the U.N. to submit an immediate complaint.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri described the crash of the two drones constitute a threat to regional stability and an attempt to push the situation toward more escalation.

Israel’s late-night airstrike Saturday in Syria, which triggered Syrian anti-aircraft fire, appeared to be one of the most intense attacks by Israeli forces in several years.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Al Quds force, working with allied Shiite militias, had been planning to send a number of explosives-laden attack drones into Israel.

Conricus said Israel had monitored the plot for several months and on Thursday prevented Iran from making an “advanced attempt” to execute the same plan. Then, Iran tried again late Saturday to carry out the same attack, he said.

He declined to give specifics on what targets the Iranians intended to strike.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group, reported that two Hezbollah members and an Iranian militiaman were killed in the Israeli attack Saturday night.

But a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, said the Israeli strikes in Syria did not cause any damage or casualties among Iranian forces there, said “the defenders of Syria and Iraq will soon give an answer” to recent attacks by Israel and the United States.

In recent days, U.S. officials have said that Israeli strikes have hit Iranian targets in Iraq, in what would be a significant expansion of Israel’s campaign targeting Iranian military entrenchment in the region. Iran supports Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as an array of government-allied militias in Syria and Iraq.

Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks in recent years targeting Hezbollah and other Iranian targets in Syria. Israel views Iran as its greatest threat and has said it will not tolerate a permanent Iranian presence in Syria or the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah.

Iran and Hezbollah are key military allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad in that country’s eight-year-old civil war.

Hezbollah and Israel fought a monthlong war in 2006. The volatile border between the two countries, which remain technically in a state of war, has been mostly calm since.

Associated Press writers Fadi Tawil and Bilal Hussein in Beirut and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed reporting. </s> Hezbollah says Israeli drones crashed without being shot

BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah said Sunday that two Israeli drones crashed in Beirut overnight without the militant group firing on them.

Spokesman Mohammed Afif said a small, unmanned reconnaissance drone fell on the roof of a building housing Hezbollah's media office in the Moawwad neighborhood in Dahyeh, the group's stronghold in the southern part of the Lebanese capital.

He said a second drone, which appeared to have been sent by Israel to search for the first drone less than 45 minutes later, exploded in the air and crashed nearby — a blast heard by residents of the area.

"We did not shoot down or explode any of the drones," Afif told The Associated Press.

He said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will give the "appropriate" response in a televised appearance later Sunday.

Late Saturday, Israeli warplanes attacked targets near the Syrian capital in what the Israeli military said was a successful effort to thwart an imminent Iranian drone strike on Israel. The late-night airstrike, which triggered Syrian anti-aircraft fire, appeared to be one of the most intense attacks by Israeli forces in several years.

It was not immediately clear if the incidents in Syria and Lebanon were related. There was no immediate Israeli comment on Hezbollah's remarks.

Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks in recent years targeting Hezbollah and other Iranian targets in Syria. Israel views Iran as its greatest threat and has said it will not tolerate a permanent Iranian presence in Syria or the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah.

Iran and Hezbollah are key military allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad in that country's eight-year-old civil war. </s> Lebanese security stand near the site where an Israeli drone was said to have crashed in a stronghold of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2019. A Hezbollah official said Sunday that an Israeli drone went down over the Lebanese capital of Beirut and another exploded in the air, amid regional tensions between Israel and Iran. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah said Sunday that two Israeli drones crashed in Beirut overnight without the militant group firing on them.

Spokesman Mohammed Afif said a small, unmanned reconnaissance drone fell on the roof of a building housing Hezbollah’s media office in the Moawwad neighborhood in Dahyeh, the group’s stronghold in the southern part of the Lebanese capital.

He said a second drone, which appeared to have been sent by Israel to search for the first drone less than 45 minutes later, exploded in the air and crashed nearby — a blast heard by residents of the area.

“We did not shoot down or explode any of the drones,” Afif told The Associated Press.

He said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will give the “appropriate” response in a televised appearance later Sunday.

Late Saturday, Israeli warplanes attacked targets near the Syrian capital in what the Israeli military said was a successful effort to thwart an imminent Iranian drone strike on Israel. The late-night airstrike, which triggered Syrian anti-aircraft fire, appeared to be one of the most intense attacks by Israeli forces in several years.

It was not immediately clear if the incidents in Syria and Lebanon were related. There was no immediate Israeli comment on Hezbollah’s remarks.

Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks in recent years targeting Hezbollah and other Iranian targets in Syria. Israel views Iran as its greatest threat and has said it will not tolerate a permanent Iranian presence in Syria or the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah.

Iran and Hezbollah are key military allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad in that country’s eight-year-old civil war. </s> BEIRUT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2019) Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has called the incident around the two Israeli drones that crashed in southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday an attack on country's sovereignty.

Earlier in the day, media reported that two Israeli drones crashed near Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut overnight, while one of them exploded in the air. The blast reportedly caused significant damage to the Hezbollah press service's building and left three people injured. According to other reports, one of the drones was shot down by the Hezbollah movement, while the other one was seized.

"Prime Minister Saad Hariri views the crash of two Israeli reconnaissance drones in southern suburbs of Beirut as an open aggression against Lebanon's sovereignty and violation of [UN Security Council] Resolution 1701," the statement issued by prime minister's press office read.

According to the statement, Hariri intends to review further actions with Lebanese President Michel Aoun and the parliament speaker, Nabih Berri.

"The aggression is represented by the repeated intrusion of the Israeli aircraft into the air space of Lebanon and their presence in the space over Beirut," Hariri said adding that Israel's actions threaten regional stability and may provoke a serious crisis.

The incident came hours after Israel attacked what it describes as Iranian forces in Syria southeast of Damascus. The Israeli military claimed that the operation was meant to foil a purported attack of Iranian combat drones against Israel. Tehran, meanwhile, refuted Israeli military's claim the Iranian forces were hit in the attack.

Israel considers Iran and Tehran-backed Hezbollah to be its main rivals in the region. Hezbollah operates a military wing that battled Israel during the latter's invasions of Lebanon. Its military wing is also currently active in Syria, where it is fighting on behalf of the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. </s> The head of Hezbollah on Sunday threatened Israel after a “drone attack” on the Lebanese Shiite movement’s Beirut stronghold, vowing to “do everything” to thwart future attacks. Hezbollah, considered a terrorist organisation by Israel and the United States, is a major political actor in Lebanon and a key government backer in war-torn Syria.

The Shiite movement and Israel, which have fought several wars, have upped their belligerent rhetoric in recent months.

The pre-dawn incident in Beirut came just hours after Israel said it had launched strikes in neighbouring Syria to prevent an Iranian attack on the Jewish state.

Nasrallah said the strike had killed two Hezbollah members.

In a televised speech broadcast to thousands of supporters, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said the attack on a target in Beirut’s south was the first such “hostile action” since the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.

He said it violated a UN Security Council resolution ending the 33-day war, which killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah would do “everything” to prevent similar attacks.

“The time when Israeli aircraft come and bombard parts of Lebanon is over,” he said.

“I say to the Israeli army along the border, from tonight be ready and wait for us,” he said. “What happened yesterday will not pass.” - ‘Do not rest’ Addressing Israelis, he said: “Do not live, do not rest, do not be reassured, and do not bet for a single moment that Hezbollah will allow... aggression of this kind.” Nasrallah said a surveillance drone had flown over the capital’s suburbs, and that an armed drone had then “hit a specific area”.

Earlier, the Lebanese army said two Israeli drones had violated Lebanese airspace over Beirut, and Hezbollah said one had damaged a media centre it runs in a residential building.

A Hezbollah spokesman, Mohamed Afif, said shards from shattered window panes had caused “minor injuries”.

The Israeli army declined to comment on the Lebanese claims.

Earlier, Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun, an ally of Hezbollah, said the drone incursion targeted “stability and peace in Lebanon and the region”.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who is one of the Shiite group’s most prominent political opponents, said the incident was “a threat to regional stability”.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later Sunday called Hariri to stress the “necessity to avoid any escalation”, the premier’s office said.

Earlier Sunday, the Israeli military said it had been able late Saturday to thwart an attempt by an Iranian force to attack northern Israel with explosive-laden drones.

Since the beginning of Syria’s war in 2011, Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes in the country, most of them against what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah targets.

However it rarely acknowledges specific operations so promptly.

Military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said the Israeli attack in Aqraba, southeast of Damascus, targeted “terror targets and military facilities belonging to the Quds force (of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards) as well as Shiite militias”.

“We’ve been tracking the Quds force” for weeks, he said.

“The intention was to fly a number of attack drones towards targets located in northern Israel,” he said.

A Syrian military source quoted by state news agency SANA said anti-aircraft defences detected “enemy targets” late Saturday and responded. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said five fighters were killed, but a high-ranking official in Tehran denied Iranian positions had been hit.

Nasrallah said those strikes killed two Hezbollah members but that the site hit was a resting place, not a military facility.

“There were just Lebanese youth from Hezbollah in the place that was bombarded,” he said.

On Sunday afternoon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the north of Israel.

“Any country that allows its territory to be used for aggression against Israel will face the consequences,” said the veteran premier, who has sought to burnish his security credentials ahead of September elections.

Just minutes after Israel announced its raid, Netanyahu in the morning had hailed what he termed a “major operational effort” in thwarting an attack. “Iran has no immunity anywhere,” Netanyahu said. “Our forces operate in every sector against the Iranian aggression.” </s> Analysts speculate drones that crashed in Beirut were Iranian, not Israeli

The release of a photograph of a drone that crashed in the Lebanese capital Beirut earlier Sunday morning casts doubt on the claim by the Hezbollah terror group that the craft belonged to the Israeli military, with some Israeli analysts speculating the unmanned aerial vehicle was in fact an Iranian model.

In the predawn hours of this morning, a UAV exploded in the air outside the offices of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, causing damage to the building. A second crashed nearby and was retrieved by the terror group.

Both Hezbollah and the Lebanese military claimed the drones belonged to Israel.

Official Lebanese state media has just released a photograph of the quadcopter-style UAV that crashed. The aircraft does not resemble any of the UAVs used by the Israeli military.

Several well-connected Israeli commentators, including a former IDF general, say the drone appeared to be of an Iranian design.

The Israel Defense Forces refuses to publicly comment on the incident, saying it does not comment on “foreign reports.”

Former head of Military Intelligence Amos Yadlin, who now heads the esteemed Institute for National Security Studies think tank, speculates that the drone may have been part of a plot by Tehran to send armed drones into northern Israel to bomb military installations and national infrastructure, an attack that the IDF said it foiled late Saturday night with a series of airstrikes in Syria.

“Were Iranian drones prevented from taking off from the Beirut area?” Yadlin writes on Twitter.

The former intelligence chief says it appeared as though both Israel and Iran were looking to calm the situation following the late-night airstrikes.
Hezbollah says two Israeli drones went down in the Moawwad neighborhood of Dahieh (South Beirut), Lebanon, and they did not shoot them. A small reconnaissance drone fell on the roof of the Hezbollah media building, then another drone exploded nearby, causing damage to the building. Residents report a loud blast. The Israeli Army says it does not comment on "foreign reports". The Lebanese Army confirms the drones as Israeli.