Israel to 'respond' after 'drone' hits bulldozer in south Lebanon

The Israeli army is considering a military response to the damage inflicted on an engineering vehicle by a “Hezbollah drone” in the Ali al-Taher heights in southern Lebanon, Israel’s Channel 14 said on Wednesday.

“Beirut's southern suburbs will not be a target in the response,” the channel added.

Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper meanwhile said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the air force to prepare to respond to “Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire,” adding that airstrikes on south Lebanon are expected later today. The daily later removed this report from its social media accounts.

The Israeli army meanwhile announced in a statement that Hezbollah launched a suicide drone overnight at an Israeli army engineering vehicle in the Ali Taher Hill area and that no injuries were recorded, while calling the incident a "serious violation of the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon."

Israeli forces "continue their operations in the hill area and will not allow terrorist elements in the area to strengthen or carry out terrorist plots against IDF (Israeli army) forces," the statement said.

The reported incident marks the first such attack since the framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon in late June.

Hezbollah has a massive underground complex under the ridge, near Nabatieh, and the Israeli army estimates that dozens of operatives are holed up in the area.

However, because of the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli army is prevented from capturing the underground passages beneath the ridge.

Under a U.S.-sponsored agreement signed last month, Lebanon's army is to disarm Hezbollah and the Israeli military is to withdraw from "pilot zones" where Lebanese forces will subsequently deploy.

The deal came more than three months after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel in support of Tehran on March 2, triggering major Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion.

While violence has declined since the signing of a preliminary U.S.-Iran deal last month and the Lebanon-Israel agreement, Lebanon continues to report intermittent Israeli strikes and artillery shelling on the south.

Lebanon's army on Sunday condemned ongoing Israeli military activities that it said were preventing its full deployment under the framework deal.

Hezbollah has not claimed any attacks since June 20.