Israeli army intercepts drone from Syria amid regional tensions

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army said Wednesday that it had shot down a drone from Syria amid rising regional tensions over Tel Aviv’s ongoing attacks on Lebanon.

A military statement said that the drone was intercepted over the southern area of Tiberias.

Air-raid sirens were activated over Israel-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, according to an Anadolu reporter in the area.

No injuries or damage were reported.

The Israeli army said early Wednesday that two drones were fired from Iraq and hit open areas in northern Golan, sparking fires.

The Iraqi Islamic Resistance group confirmed that it had launched three drone attacks on northern and southern Israel.

Regional tensions have escalated as Israel launched waves of deadly airstrikes on Lebanon since Monday morning against what it called Hezbollah targets amid an escalation in warfare between the two sides.

Nearly 570 people have since been killed and over 1,800 others injured while tens of thousands have been displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar