Israel’s military said it intercepted three drones fired by Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement towards an offshore gas field in the Mediterranean. “Three enemy drones approaching the airspace in Israel’s economic waters were intercepted,” the military said in a statement on Saturday, adding that the drones were headed for the Karish gas field, which is partly claimed by Lebanon. The drones were not armed and did not pose a threat, Israeli military sources said. One drone was intercepted by a fighter jet and the other two by a warship, the sources said. Hezbollah said on Saturday that it had launched three unarmed drones and that they had completed the mission and “the message was delivered”. There was no immediate response from Lebanese authorities on the incident. Lebanon condemned Israel last month when a ship operated by London-listed Greek energy company Energean entered the Karish field. Israel claims the field is in its waters and is not part of the disputed area subject to ongoing maritime boundary negotiations. Hezbollah warned Energean not to proceed with its operations. Lebanon and Israel resumed negotiations on their maritime borders in 2020, but the process stalled over Beirut’s claim that the map used by the United Nations in the talks needed to be modified. Beirut initially claimed 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of waters it said were disputed, but later claimed an additional 1,430 square kilometers (552 square miles), including part of the Karish field. Lebanon is hoping to expand offshore oil and gas production as it faces the worst economic crisis in its modern history. Saturday’s intercepts were the first time an air defense system mounted on an Israeli navy ship shot down an incoming target, the Israeli military said. Lebanon and Israel remain technically at war and do not have diplomatic relations. UN peacekeepers patrol the border. Israel fought a devastating war with Hezbollah in 2006 and considers the Iranian-backed group one of its main enemies.
