Lebanese military spots Israeli drone near border

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The Lebanese military said Wednesday an unmanned Israeli aircraft spent about four hours inside Lebanese airspace before returning home.

The official National News Agency published an army statement saying an Israeli drone entered Lebanese airspace near a southern border village around 6 a.m. local time and departed roughly four hours later.

Lebanon has complained repeatedly that Israel was violating U.N. Security Council resolutions regarding its territorial sovereignty with its surveillance program.

The incident follows a weekend shooting along the so-called Blue Line, a border separating Israel and Lebanon. An investigation by the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon said a Lebanese soldier was acting alone when he shot and killed an Israeli soldier.

The Daily Star, a Lebanese newspaper, published a statement from Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, saying she was "worried" about the border incident and called on Israel and Lebanon to show restraint.

The Lebanese military statement made no connection between the drone and the border shooting.