IDF fighter jet downs drone off coast of Lebanon approaching Israeli airspace
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit )
Pro-Iranian militias attacked Israel’s Karish natural gas rig in the Mediterranean using a drone, a source from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq militia told Al Jazeera on Friday.
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Earlier, the militias claimed they had attacked a "target" in the area and that a "hit was recorded."
This comes on the heels of an IDF report that an Israeli fighter jet, in collaboration with the Navy, downed an unmanned aerial vehicle off the coast of Lebanon that was making its way to Israeli territory last week. According to the report, the aircraft did not cross into Israeli airspace.
The military's statement did not specify who was responsible for launching the drone. On that same day, Hezbollah did not claim responsibility for launching loitering munitions toward Israel. The Lebanese terrorist organization did claim responsibility for seven operations that included firing at IDF positions and border towns.
IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in his daily briefing Friday evening, "We don't know the intended purpose of this aircraft, and we don't reveal everything at the moment – also for reasons of information security and material collection.
“What's important is that we destroyed it - and we will continue to do so against any threat to Israel." According to publicly available information, there have been no recent hits on the Karish platform.
This isn't the first time since the war began that pro-Iranian militias claim responsibility for attempted attacks on Israel as they have claimed to have targeted sites in the southern city of Eilat "in response to attacks in Gaza, and the infringement of Palestinian rights, including children, women and the elderly."
No sirens were activated in Eilat over the last day, and according to reports in Arab media, the Jordanian army downed a drone en route from Iraq to Israel.