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.
