BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Monday it had downed an Israeli Hermes 450 drone over Lebanese territory with a surface-to-air missile, the first time it has announced bringing down this type of unmanned aerial vehicle.

The Hermes 450 is an Israeli multi-payload drone made by Elbit Systems, an Israel-based weapons manufacturer.

The Israeli military said on Monday that two missile launches had targeted an Israeli Air Force UAV operating over Lebanon. The first, it said, was intercepted by Israel’s ‘David’s Sling’ Aerial Defense System but the drone “fell inside Lebanese territory” after a second launch.

Hezbollah hits back after Israel strike kills woman, girl in Lebanon

Hezbollah said it has downed or seized control of several Israeli drones in the months since it began exchanging fire with the Israeli military across Lebanon’s southern border.