The Israeli army reported on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday of a "security incident" in the north of the country, on the border with Lebanon, and asked the local population to prepare "to find refuge" . "A security incident is underway in the area of Manara, near the blue line" , the de facto border between Israel and Lebanon, the Israeli army said in a brief message to the media, specifying "that roads had been blocked. ".
Read also: In Israel, lay people and religious clash around a satirical series
The army also asked residents of five Israeli border towns of Lebanon "cease all activity outside" to "go home" and to "prepare for shelter immediately if needed." The Israeli army has not given more details on the nature of this incident which comes as Lebanese Hezbollah announced this weekend that it had shot down an Israeli drone that had crossed the border into Lebanon. The Hebrew state, technically at war with Lebanon, said in late July that it had repelled an attempt by Hezbollah fighters to cross the border.
The Shiite movement, however, has denied any involvement in the incident after an alleged Israeli missile attack hit positions of the Syrian regime's army and their allies south of Damascus. In September 2019, Hezbollah pledged to shoot down Israeli drones over Lebanon following an incident weeks earlier when two drones loaded with explosives targeted Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut. These tensions on the drones had been considered as one of the causes of the exchange of fire at the Lebanese-Israeli border.