Hezbollah admits launching drone over Israel

The leader of the Lebanese movement Hezbollah has said that his organisation launched an Iranian-built drone that was shot down in Israeli airspace last week.

"A sophisticated reconnaissance aircraft was sent from Lebanese territory ... and travelled hundreds of kilometres over the sea before crossing enemy lines and into occupied Palestine," Hassan Nasrallah said on television on Thursday.

He said the drone had overflown sensitive sites in Israel.

"Possession of such an aerial capacity is a first in the history of any resistance movement in Lebanon and the region," he said.

"It's not the first time [that a drone was sent] and it will not be the last. We can reach all the zones" of Israel, said Nasrallah, referring to a less sophisticated drone sent by Hezbollah during Lebanon's 2006 conflict with Israel.

He said the drone was "Iranian built and assembled in Lebanon", and was refered to as "Ayoub".

sraeli fighter planes shot down the drone north of the Negev desert after it entered from the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, Israel's prime minister has again vowed to defend the country's borders.

Nasrallah's announcement came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of launching the previously unidentified drone.

"We are acting with determination to protect our borders... as we prevented last weekend an attempt by Hezbollah," Netanyahu office quoted him as saying. "We shall continue to act aggressively against all threats."

Nasrallah echoed the Israeli prime minister's sentiment.

"Israel is breaking the law and invading our space all the time. They should get used to us invading their space," he said in his televised speech.

He alleged that Israel had violated Lebanese airspace 20,468 times since August 2006.

The drone, which did not carry any explosives, was destroyed over a largely uninhabited area. It flew some 35 miles (55km) inland before being shot down.

On at least three occasions unmanned aircraft operated by Hezbollah have been detected over Israeli territory.

Although Israeli officials have not given details of where they think the drone came from, Israel's media have published maps indicating it was launched near the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon.

It is claimed that the aircraft flew out to sea, then south, and then appeared over southern Israel from the direction of the Mediterranean.

The Israeli military said the aircraft had been detected by ground-based defence systems.

Israeli jets flew alongside it before shooting it down.

The drone incident came amid growing hints by Israel that it may launch a military strike against Iran - Hezbollah's close ally - if Tehran continues with its controversial nuclear programme.

In another development on Thursday, Netanyahu's office announced the date of the general election as 22 January.

The vote was brought forward by nine months after the prime minister failed to agree an annual budget with his coalition partners.

His right-wing coalition government has been in power since 2009.