Source : Israel National News
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was in a helicopter flight on the way to a tour of northern Israel, when the IAF spotted what is believed to have been a Hizbullah UAV in the skies of Haifa Thursday.
The prime minister's staff, in consultation with security elements, decided to take no chances and instructed the helicopter pilot to land for a short time, until the successful interception of the UAV.
The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) penetrated Israeli air space from Lebanon Thursday, and was shot down.
At around 2:00 p.m. Israel time (11:00 GMT), IAF aircraft belonging to the ae defense array identified an aircraft making its way from Lebanon into Israeli
Fighter jets and combat helicopters were scrambled. The UAV was still over t Mediterranean sea when the IAF Commander gave instructions to shoot it do
An air-to-air missile from an F-16 hit the UAV and demolished it. According t official statement, it was shot down 5 nautical miles away from Haifa's coast.
The IAF is now attempting to determine who sent the UAV.
"I view with utmost gravity this attempt to violate our border," Prime Ministe Binyamin Netanyahu said following the incident. "We will continue to do ever necessary to safeguard the security of Israel's citizens."
Military censorship allowed publication of the news after a gag order was in p about two hours.
Hizbullah sent a UAV into Israeli territory in October. The IAF shot it down was well within Israeli territory, over Judea. The embedded video was release IAF after that event.
