A military spokesman of the occupation regime said two fighter jets were scrambled from a southern air base at around 10 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) after a ground control station identified the drone.
The Zionist air force on Saturday intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that penetrated the claimed airspace of the Zionist entity from the Mediterranean Sea and headed south, its military said in a statement.
A military spokesman of the occupation regime said two fighter jets were scrambled from a southern air base at around 10 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) after a ground control station identified the drone, which was shot down over the Yatir Forest, an area in the northern Negev.
"At this time we do not know where it originated from and what its objective was," Zionist Captain Roni Kaplan told the Chinese Xinhua. news agency.
Zionist troops surveyed the area where the drone was downed in an effort to locate debris that could shed light on its origin and objective, while the Air Force launched its own investigation into the incident, Kaplan said.
Local media outlets speculated, however, that the drone was either sent to collect intelligence or crash into a Zionist town or military installation.
A retired Lebanese major general Hisham Jaber said in an interview with Press TV on Saturday that the drone was probably operated by Americans.
“(The drone must have come) from an American aircraft carrier or from (air force and military bases in) Saudi Arabia, also American bases. That’s the only possibility so far until we know after investigation.”
Considering the good relationship between the Zionist regime and Jordan, the Lebanese military analyst went on to say that he did not think the drone could have been operated from Jordan, adding that it is “impossible” that it came from Lebanon.
In a statement, Zionist Defense Minister Ehud Barak praised the military and the Air force in the entity of occupation for what he called “their quick and effective response.”
"We view with severity the attempt to harm Israeli airspace, and we will weigh our response," Barak said.
Worthy to recall here that the Zionist own drones have also crashed in and around Palestine during recent years.
