Drama off coast of Haifa • Air Force shot down Iranian aircraft over sea

On Thursday afternoon at about 13:30 an aircraft was detected in the north off the coast of Haifa, F-16 Air Force planes intercepted the aircraft, and the Navy set out to find the fragments of the craft which flew to Israel from the north to south .

In those hours was there considerable movement of aircraft in the north, also deep into Lebanon.

It is possible that this was an Iranian plane was launched by Hezbollah.

Al-Manar network reported about the presence of Israeli jets in the skies of southern Lebanon, and later a UVA from Lebanon was shot down in Haifa, near the Lebanese border with Syria.

There were explosions and smoke trails seen in the sky. Vessels of the Navy launched a search for debris of the aircraft.

Apparently, the UAV was launched by Nasrallah's organization.

The planes were sent forward from Ramat David base. After the explosion sorties of IAF were reported in Lebanon.

The IDF spokesman says that an unmanned aircraft that tried to infiltrate into Israel was intercepted near two o'clock by the Air Force. The aircraft was shot down over the sea, on his way to the shores of Israel. IDF forces are now scanning the maritime space .

IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Yoav (Poli) Mordechai, told military reporters at a briefing that the "aircraft was launched from north to south, from the coastal area in Lebanon. The Air Force identified the UVA while still in Lebanon and followed it. Jets and attack helicopters were brought to the place, which made certain that it is not a friendly craft. After receiving the information, the Air Force commander confirmed the downing of the UVA by a fighter jet – which fired a air missile at it. The UVA was shot down about 5 miles from the coast of Haifa, at an altitude of 6,000 feet. "

"The UAV is a small aircraft and it is very hard to hold it in the air," said senior Air Force officer, "but due to the skills which the air force developed against provocation of Hezbullah the pilot managed to down it with the first missile." The officer praised the pilot of the M- 16 who managed to intercept the drone with the first missile.

The update on the UAV penetration was received by Netanyahu when he was flying on his way north. His helicopter landed briefly until the interception, and then continued to its destination.

The prime minister said during a visit to the Druze Sheikh Mufak Tarif at the village of Julis that "Israel follows with interest and concern what is happening in Syria and Lebanon."

He added: "Syria is cracking and Lebanon is unstable. Both places offer considerable threats against Israel. In Syria there are two threats. First is a leakage of advanced weapons to terrorist organizations, and the second is an attempt of infiltration of terrorists through our borders and shooting towards settlements." Netanyahu added: "We are prepared to handle both of these issues and we are dealing with them. The State of Israel will prepare correctly to handle any threat to Syria and Lebanon, by sea and air."

In October 2012 the IDF downed an Unmanned Aircraft in the northern Negev which penetrated from the Mediterranean. The craft was detected by the control systems of the IDF and Israel along its flight path was under surveillance from the air and from the ground, including fighter jets. After a few minutes, several rockets were fired at it, and one of them dropped the craft in the northern Negev, from considerations of avoiding damage in a populated area.

During the Second Lebanon War, within a few days in August, 2006, Air Force jets downed two UVA's of "Abavil" kind of Hezbollah. Once detected by the anti-aircraft unit and air control unit of the North, Barak (F-16C) aircraft of the "Knights of the North" squadron and Ha'emek sent air-to - air missiles and brought down the UVA's one over the sea, in Lebanon and the other north of Haifa.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!