BEIRUT (Dispatches) – Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah announced in a statement that it launched on Saturday three unarmed drones on a reconnaissance mission toward the Karish gas field disputed with the Zionist regime.
“On Saturday afternoon, 7/2/2022, three unarmed drones of different sizes were launched towards the disputed area at the Karish field to carry out reconnaissance missions,” Hezbollah said.
“The mission has been accomplished, and the message delivered,” the resistance movement added.
Earlier on Saturday, the Zionist regime’s military alleged that its air forces had intercepted “three hostile UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles).
An Israeli source also claimed that the regime had shot down three unarmed “hostile drones,” which had been flying from the direction of Lebanon towards gas rigs in the disputed field.
Hezbollah had warned in early June that the movement is “ready” to take action if the Lebanese government confirms that the occupying regime is violating the maritime rights of the country, after a gas drilling ship arrived in disputed Mediterranean waters to conduct hydrocarbon exploration for the regime.
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem told Reuters at that time that Hezbollah is ready to take action, “including by force,” against the regime’s gas operations in the disputed waters once Beirut adopts a clearer policy.
“When the Lebanese state says that the Israelis are attacking our waters and our oil, then we are ready to do our part in terms of pressure, deterrence and the use of appropriate means – including force,” Qassem said.
The Tel Aviv regime and the international hydrocarbon exploration and production company that operated the vessel equally claimed the field in question falls within Israel’s so-called exclusive economic zone. Beirut rejects the claim.
“The issue requires a decisive decision by the Lebanese state,” the Hezbollah deputy secretary-general said, adding that the resistance movement has “urged the government to hurry, to set a deadline.”
Qassem also noted that Hezbollah would act on this issue “regardless of the responses,” that it may elicit from the regime, even if it led to a wider conflict.
Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun also condemned the move by the Zionist regime, warning that any activity in the disputed waters would amount to an act of aggression and a provocation.
Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had, in the past, asserted clearly that all options were on the table to protect Lebanon’s soil and resources from Israeli infringement.
“The resistance cannot stay silent in the face of plunder of Lebanon’s resources. The resistance’s essential duty is to protect Lebanon’s land, waters, oil, gas and dignity,” Nasrallah said during an address last month.
Lebanon and the Zionist regime are technically at war due to the latter’s 1967-present occupation of the country’s Shebaa Farms.
The occupying regime launched two wars against Lebanon in the 2000s. In both cases, it was forced to retreat after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of Hezbollah.