Israel Shoots Down Hezbollah Drone

By Newsroom America Staff at 9 Oct 2012

(Newsroom America) -- An Israeli fighter jet shot down a drone believed to have been sent by Hezbollah deep inside the southern portion of the country, reports said Monday.

Israeli officials have largely been silent about the incursion, but Fox News reported that the Israeli military has since deployed a U.S.-made Patriot missile battery to Haifa in northern Israeli as tensions mount following the downing of the drone.

Reports said that Israeli radar tracked the drone into the southern part of the country. It was shot down about 20 minutes later.

While no group has taken responsibility for the drone, Israeli military officials are fairly certain it belonged to the military group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.

In 2006, Hebollah began sending small drones that were laden with explosives into northern Israel, just across the Lebanon border.

The Associated Press quoted an unnamed Iranian official who poked fun at the incursion, saying it exposed Israel's weak air defenses.

Israeli analysts believe the drone was on a reconnaisance mission, possibly to gather information on potential Israeli military targets or the highly guarded nuclear plant in Dimona, in the southern Israeli desert.

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