Beirut, June 2 : Hezbollah has said that it had shot down an Israeli drone over southern Lebanon.

The militant group said on Saturday in a statement that its fighters, "after careful monitoring and follow-up, ambushed a Hermes 900 drone that assaulted our people and villages, and they targeted it with appropriate weapons over Lebanese territory, where it was shot down."

A Lebanese military source told Xinhua that a surface-to-air missile was fired from southern Lebanon and hit an Israeli drone, which was seen catching fire and landing south of the city of Nabatieh.

According to Hezbollah, it had previously shot down Israeli drones in February and April of this year, Xinhua news agency reported.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

/IANS