The Israeli military says it lost a drone that was on a spy mission over Lebanon, but denied earlier reports that Hezbollah militants destroyed the intruding UAV.

A small copter-sized craft did crash over Lebanon but wasn’t shot down, the IDF told the media on Monday. When asked whether the aircraft had been targeted from the ground or crashed due to a technical issue, an army spokesperson told the Times of Israel, “It fell, as far as I know.”

Separately, the military confirmed to RIA Novosti that the drone “carried out a routine flight and went down in Lebanese territory,” but said it is unlikely that any intelligence data could be taken from the drone.

#IDF confirms a small drone fell in south #Lebanon during a routine operation yesterday. ,#Israel's military said it wasn't a big event and there are no concerns that #Hezbollah could get their hands on any intelligence — Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) September 9, 2019

Earlier on Sunday, Hezbollah claimed that it shot down an Israeli drone and took the debris that fell near Lebanon’s southern border.

The hardline militant movement had already vowed to start “a new phase” of their fight against Israel, which means targeting Israel’s unmanned aerial vehicles over Lebanon. The warning came after a drone attack on Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut two weeks ago, which it blamed on Israel.

Also on rt.com Hezbollah downs ‘another Israeli drone’ after vowing no tolerance to airspace violations

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