Hezbollah Says It Shoots Down Israeli Drone over Lebanon

 Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the border on June 8, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. (AFP)
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the border on June 8, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. (AFP)
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Hezbollah Says It Shoots Down Israeli Drone over Lebanon

 Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the border on June 8, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. (AFP)
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the border on June 8, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. (AFP)

Lebanon's Hezbollah party said its air defenses downed an Israeli attack drone over southern Lebanon on Monday, and the Israeli military confirmed the loss of the drone.

"A surface-to-air missile was launched toward an Israeli Air Force UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) that was operating in Lebanese airspace. As a result, the UAV was damaged and fell in Lebanese territory," the Israeli military said.

Iran-backed Hezbollah said in a statement it hit a Hermes 900 aircraft, an Israeli-made reconnaissance and attack drone.

Lebanon's southern border has seen an uptick in hostilities over the past week, with both the Israeli military and Hezbollah striking locations outside the border strip where the exchanges of fire have been concentrated, and with increased intensity.

On Saturday, two people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town of Aitaroun.

Hezbollah said its fighters retaliated on the same day by firing rockets on Malkia, in northern Israel, followed by a salvo of missiles at a military command center in northern Israel using the Falaq 2 rockets.



UNRWA 'Very Near' Possible Breaking Point in Gaza Operation, Head Says

12 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Tents for displaced people are crowded west of Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip after thousands of Palestinians fled Rafah after the Israeli army announced the start of a military operation there. Photo: Saher Alghorra/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
12 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Tents for displaced people are crowded west of Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip after thousands of Palestinians fled Rafah after the Israeli army announced the start of a military operation there. Photo: Saher Alghorra/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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UNRWA 'Very Near' Possible Breaking Point in Gaza Operation, Head Says

12 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Tents for displaced people are crowded west of Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip after thousands of Palestinians fled Rafah after the Israeli army announced the start of a military operation there. Photo: Saher Alghorra/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
12 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Tents for displaced people are crowded west of Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip after thousands of Palestinians fled Rafah after the Israeli army announced the start of a military operation there. Photo: Saher Alghorra/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

The UN Palestinian refugee agency is close to a possible breaking point for its operations in the Gaza Strip due to increasingly complicated conditions, its head said on Wednesday.

"I will not hide the fact that we might reach a point that we won't be able anymore to operate," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told journalists at a news conference in Berlin.

"We are very near to a possible breaking point. When will it be? I don't know. But we are very near of that," he said, Reuters reported.

He said the agency was facing a combination of a financial and political threats to its existence, in addition to difficulties in day-to-day operations, as aid is even more desperately needed against the threat of disease and famine.

He said there was a real risk, heading into winter, with people's immune systems weakened, that famine or acute malnutrition could become a likelihood.

UNRWA provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

It has long had tense relations with Israel but ties have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza.

Israeli leaders in January accused UNRWA staff of collaborating with Hamas militants in Gaza, leading some donors to suspend funding, although many of those decisions have since been reversed. The UN launched an investigation into Israel's accusations and dismissed nine staff.