Israeli spy plane flies over Lebanon

An Israeli spy plane has entered Lebanese airspace, in yet another violation of the country’s airspace, reads a statement by the Lebanese army.

“An Israeli reconnaissance plane entered Lebanon’s airspace on Tuesday at 8:10 a.m. local time,” the military said in its Wednesday statement.

The aircraft flew over the southern border town of Naqoura for more than 12 hors before returning to Israel at 8:15 p.m. local time.

Beirut officials have long been complaining about Israel’s regular violations of Lebanon’s border and airspace.

The Israeli overflight operations are in clear violation of the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 1701, which ended the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006.

The Resolution requires the Tel Aviv regime to respect the Lebanese sovereignty.

Beirut complained to the UN in 2009 about Israel’s spying flights over its southern territory, but the world body has not taken any substantial measures to halt the violations.

The United Nations has deployed a peacekeeping force made up of more than 12,000 uniformed and civilian personnel in southern Lebanon to prevent such cross-border tensions.

The Lebanese, however, criticize the mission for failing to meet its obligations regarding the protection of the country’s territory against persistent Israeli violations.