Lebanon’s southern border has been unusually active in recent days, witnessing activities ranging from full-blown military operations to the more subtle “drone hostility.”
Fortunately, the latter has been more common than the former, and the latest case of drones in South Lebanon making headlines took place on Thursday afternoon, while civil defense members were working to extinguish a fire.
According to the National News Agency, two Israeli drones flew over Lebanese territory, at a low altitude, and dropped what was later found to be a glass bottle and a small bag into the area wherein the firefighters had been attempting to control the fire.
UNIFIL in the vicinity of Houla, Marjaayoun, where the curious incident unfolded, took note of the drones, and a video later began to circulate social media, showing one of the drones as it dropped the bottle.
The two drones later retreated and no further details were reported about their action.
Interestingly, this marks the 3rd drone-related incident to take place on the southern border this month.
The first was when Israeli military downed a civilian drone while it was filming a Hezbollah music video near the border. The second was when an Israeli drone abruptly crashed after apparently experiencing a technical failure.
Amid the tension that was escalated by the military action, which unfolded a few days ago, the fear of a new Lebanon-Israel conflict has become, once again, a serious concern for the Lebanese.
Commenting on the charged atmosphere, Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin said in a Friday interview that such a conflict is “unlikely.”
“We do not see a high probability of war; there is a balance, and each side knows that there are huge losses for each of the two parties,” the diplomat explained.
Meanwhile, as Israel pushes to increase the power UNIFIL enjoys in South Lebanon, the Lebanese government has decided to take matters to the United Nations Security Council with a complaint against its enemy.
