A missile ship from the Israeli Navy's 3rd Fleet, in cooperation with the Air Force, successfully intercepted an unmanned aircraft that had entered Israel's economic waters from Lebanon, the IDF reported Saturday morning.
The drone was suspected of targeting a gas rig off northern Israel, but it remains unclear whether it was armed or conducting reconnaissance.
Israeli ship intercepts drone
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
In February 2022, the IDF intercepted three drones over the Mediterranean Sea flying from Lebanon into Israel's economic waters. The army said one drone was intercepted by an F-16 fighter jet, while the other two were downed by the Barak naval missile defense system. That incident marked the first interception of its kind in Israel.
The incident occurred as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah were running high in the lead-up to the signing of an agreement delineating maritime borders between the two nations.
The agreement, signed in October 2022, resolved a long-standing dispute over a 330-square-mile area in the Mediterranean Sea rich in natural gas reserves which was claimed by both Israel and Lebanon, leading to heightened tensions and several confrontations over exploration and drilling rights.
The U.S.-brokered deal allowed both countries to exploit the maritime spoils within their respective zones, potentially unlocking significant economic benefits that Lebanon desperately needs for its ailing economy.
In December 2023, after the outbreak of war, a drone was intercepted at sea which the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq claimed to have launched at the Karish rig, located near the northern border of Israel's economic waters with Lebanon. The Air Force and Navy cooperated to intercept the drone using a fighter jet. The economic waters off northern Israel also house the Leviathan gas rig about 75 miles west of Haifa.
Meanwhile, the IDF announced Saturday morning a reduction in the designated humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip's Al Mawasi due to "significant terrorist activity and rocket fire toward the State of Israel" from the southern neighborhoods of Khan Younis.
The army informed residents that staying in these areas has become dangerous and published a new map of the humanitarian zone in Al Mawasi.
IDF ground forces have so far not operated in the designated humanitarian zone throughout its campaign against Hamas. It hosts one of the last three battalions of the terror organization that the IDF has not yet targeted. The other two battalions are in Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat, both in the central Gaza Strip.