Israeli jets fly at low altitude over southern Lebanon

By Hasan Darweesh

BEIRUT (AA) - Israeli warplanes on Thursday violated the Lebanese airspace and flew at low altitude over areas in southern Lebanon.

"The Israeli warplanes conducted extensive mock raids at 11:00 a.m. local time [0900 GMT] over the Nabatieh governorate area." the Lebanese official National News Agency said.

The Lebanese authorities occasionally announce that Israeli war and reconnaissance planes violate its airspace and that Israeli boats also violate its territorial waters.

But since the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in Tehran on Nov. 27, the Israeli aircraft fly almost daily over the Lebanese airspace.

Moreover, Lebanon is locked in a dispute with Israel over an area in the Mediterranean Sea spanning about 860 square kilometers (some 332 square miles), known as Zone No. 9, which is rich in oil and gas.

So far, Lebanon and Israel held three rounds of talks under the US mediation for the demarcation of their maritime borders. The fourth round of talks, which was supposed to take place on Dec. 2, has been postponed indefinitely.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara