BEIRUT – An Israeli fighter plane shot down a drone from Lebanon over the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday as it was approaching the Israeli coast, the military said.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was inside an Israeli army helicopter when he was given the news of the drone, and was then forced to land until it was shot down.

The unmanned aircraft was sent by Hizbullah, deputy defense minister Danny Danon told army radio.

“I view with great gravity this attempt to violate our border. We will continue to do what is necessary to defend the security of Israel’s citizens,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Israel runs its own illegal flights over Lebanese territory on a near daily basis, with over 20,000 having been recorded since the Jewish state’s war with Lebanon in 2006.

The military said the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was detected in Lebanese skies and intercepted by a F-16 fighter jet some five nautical miles (9 km) from the Israeli port city of Haifa.

The Israeli navy was searching for the wreckage in the sea, a statement said.

It was the second time a drone from Lebanon has been intercepted in Israeli air space in the past seven months.

Last October, an Israel missile shot down a UAV sent by Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hizbullah after it flew some 35 miles (55 km) into southern Palestine.

An unmanned drone from Lebanon shot down on Thursday by the air force off the northern coast of Israel was an “extremely grave” incident, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

“I see this attempt to breach our borders as extremely grave. We will continue to do whatever we must to protect the security of Israel’s citizens,” he said.

-Reuters, AFP, Al-Akhbar