Israeli warplanes enter Lebanon airspace: army

Israeli warplanes enter Lebanon airspace: army
Sat Aug 31, 2013 11:25:02

Israeli military aircrafts have been violating Lebanon’s airspace, making heavy illegal air traffic, the Lebanese army has announced.

“Six Israeli warplanes and three reconnaissance planes violated Lebanon's airspace in the past two days,” Lebanese newspaper Daily Star quoted the military as saying in a Friday statement.

It said that an Israeli reconnaissance plane entered the country's airspace above the village of al-Naqoura at 11 a.m. Friday and left at 1:10 p.m. above the southern village of Alma Al-Shaab after conducting “aerial maneuvers over the Chouf and the southern region.”

“At 10:50 a.m. two Israeli warplanes entered Lebanon above Aytaroun (village) and left at 1:30 p.m. after conducting similar maneuvers over all Lebanese areas,” the statement added.

The army said that three reconnaissance planes infiltrated the airspace of the country from Naqoura around 6:30 a.m. Thursday and “conducted aerial maneuvers above various Lebanese regions before returning to Israel at 1:15 a.m. Friday.”

The statement added that six Israeli warplanes entered Lebanese airspace above Shebaa Farms and the border village of Aytaroun at 9 p.m. Thursday and left the airspace nine hours later at 6 a.m. Friday.

Israel violates Lebanon's airspace on an almost daily basis, claiming the flights serve surveillance purposes.

The Lebanese government has filed several complaints to the United Nations over the violation of the country’s airspace by the Israeli military aircraft.

Lebanon's government, the Hezbollah resistance movement, and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, have repeatedly condemned the overflights, saying they are in clear violation of UN Resolution 1701 and the country's sovereignty.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brokered a ceasefire in the war of aggression Israel launched against Lebanon in 2006, calls on Israel to respect Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In 2009, Lebanon filed a complaint with the United Nations, presenting over 7,000 documents pertaining to Israeli violations of Lebanese territory.

SHI/SHI

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