In Israel, a military spokesman confirmed a pilotless plane had been "spotted as it penetrated the western Galilee".

"In response to continued and repeated enemy violations of Lebanese airspace, a Mirsad I drone carried out a reconnaissance flight at 5:15 pm (1415 GMT) over the north of occupied Palestine," Hezbollah said.

"The drone flew over several Zionist settlements and reached the area of the coastal city of Acre before returning safely to base," the Iranian- and Syrian-backed group said in a statement.

After the mission, Israeli warplanes flew at low altitude over the southern port city of Tyre, causing a sonic boom, Lebanese police said.

And an Israeli naval boat patrolled the coast from the border town of Naqura to nearby Tyre, inside Lebanese territorial waters, the police said.

It was the second such announcement by Hezbollah since a first flight of a spy plane sent by the militia over Israel on November 7.

That incident embarrassed the Jewish state's air force, which has prided itself for decades on having total control of the region's skies.

Hezbollah warned at the time that the spy planes could carry explosives to strike targets deep inside Israel if the Jewish state attacked Lebanon.

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