Israel shoots down Lebanese light plane
The Israeli air force shot down a small Lebanese civilian plane after it crossed into their air space along the Mediterranean coast today.
The Cessna plane took off from the Lebanese capital Beirut, and was spotted by the military as it crossed into Israel, the army said.
Warplanes and helicopters made repeated attempts to contact the Cessna, but the pilot refused to respond or identify himself. After 15 minutes, the plane was shot down, said army spokesman Jacob Dallal.
"The pilots signalled him in agreed international signals and even fired a warning shot in front of him and at his side," he said.
"At a certain point, after he paid no attention to the warnings, it was decided to take it down and one of the helicopters hit it and it was taken down in the area of Mikhmoret beach, north of Tel Aviv. There was apparently one man on board," Kiltrey said.
In Beirut, airport officials were investigating the "lost contact" with a small rented plane along its southern coast when news of the shooting in Israel broke.
The Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah said on their radio station that the pilot was Istefan Nikolian, and he was flying a civilian training plane.
The radio station did not say whether he was linked to Hezbollah, which fought Israel’s forces for years in south Lebanon.
Nikolian arrived in Lebanon yesterday from Cyprus, Hezbollah radio said.
The army was on alert for Hezbollah attacks today, the first anniversary of Israel’s military withdrawal from south Lebanon.
Hezbollah has continued to carry out occasional attacks on a disputed patch of land along the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The Israelis also say that Hezbollah has been assisting the Palestinians with their uprising against the Israelis.
