Lebanon says it will defend itself by ‘any means’ after drone attack

BEIRUT — Lebanon on Tuesday stressed its right to defend the country “by any means” after a Israeli drone attack hit the Beirut stronghold of the Hizbollah movement. 

Lebanon’s higher defence council, a government body in charge of defence policy, met to discuss Sunday’s attack on southern Beirut.

“The Council affirms the right of the Lebanese to defend themselves by any means against any aggression,” it said in a statement.

It came after President Michel Aoun, a former army chief, denounced the attack as a “declaration of war” and Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed retaliation. 

During Tuesday’s meeting, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said the attack — the first of its kind since a 2006 war between Hizbollah and Israel — posed a threat to regional stability. 

Israel used the attack, for which the Jewish state has not claimed responsibility, “to change the rules of engagement”, he said.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday his country was ready to use “all means necessary” to defend itself against Iranian threats “on several fronts”.

The Iran-backed Hizbollah on Tuesday said the drone attack involved two drones — one which exploded and the other that crashed without exploding because of a technical failure.

Nasrallah on Sunday had said that an armed drone had “hit a specific area”, without elaborating.

The Beirut drone attack came after Israel on Saturday launched strikes in neighbouring Syria to prevent what it said was an Iranian attack on Israel.

Nasrallah on Sunday said two Hizbollah members were among those killed in the strikes.