Lebanon Vows to Defend Itself ‘by Any Means’ after Israeli Drone Attack

Lebanon's Higher Defense Council meets at the Beiteddine palace. (NNA)
Lebanon's Higher Defense Council meets at the Beiteddine palace. (NNA)
TT
20

Lebanon Vows to Defend Itself ‘by Any Means’ after Israeli Drone Attack

Lebanon's Higher Defense Council meets at the Beiteddine palace. (NNA)
Lebanon's Higher Defense Council meets at the Beiteddine palace. (NNA)

Lebanon vowed on Tuesday that it will defend itself "by any means" after an Israeli drone attack struck the Beirut stronghold of the Hezbollah party.

Lebanon's Higher Defense Council, a government body in charge of defense policy, met to discuss Sunday's attack on southern Beirut.

"The Council affirms the right of the Lebanese to defend themselves by any means against any aggression," it said in a statement after the meeting that was chaired by President Michel Aoun.

Aoun had denounced the attack as a "declaration of war" and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed retaliation.

During Tuesday's meeting, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said the attack -- the first of its kind since a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel -- posed a threat to regional stability.

Israel used the attack, for which the Jewish state has not claimed responsibility, "to change the rules of engagement," he said.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday his country was ready to use "all means necessary" to defend itself against Iranian threats "on several fronts".

Also on Tuesday, Hariri telephoned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the weekend’s developments. He said Lebanon was counting on Russia to avert more escalation.

He added that the Israeli attack violates United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 that helped end the 2006 war.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah on Tuesday said the drone attack involved two drones -- one which exploded and the other that crashed without exploding because of a technical failure.

Nasrallah on Sunday had said that an armed drone had "hit a specific area," without elaborating.

The Beirut drone attack came after Israel on Saturday launched strikes in neighboring Syria to prevent what it said was an Iranian attack on the Jewish state.

Nasrallah on Sunday said two Hezbollah members were among those killed in the strikes.



Armed Groups Attack Syria’s Internal Security Forces in Sweida, Killing One

 A drone view shows the remains of a destroyed tank, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Bedouin tribes and government forces, in Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria July 25, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the remains of a destroyed tank, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Bedouin tribes and government forces, in Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria July 25, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
20

Armed Groups Attack Syria’s Internal Security Forces in Sweida, Killing One

 A drone view shows the remains of a destroyed tank, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Bedouin tribes and government forces, in Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria July 25, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the remains of a destroyed tank, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Bedouin tribes and government forces, in Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria July 25, 2025. (Reuters)

Armed groups attacked personnel from Syria's internal security forces in Sweida, killing one member and wounding others, and fired shells at several villages in the violence-hit southern province, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Sunday. 

The report cited a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where factional bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month. 

Violence in Sweida erupted on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze. 

Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to tribes, and the communities have had long-standing tensions over land and other resources. 

A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to investigate the attacks. 

The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region.