Hizbollah has repeatedly denied any connection to a drone which was shot down west of Haifa last Thursday evening.

According to the IDF, Israeli radars monitored the unmanned aerial vehicle as it flew out of Lebanese territory and over the Mediterranean.

As the drone turned east towards the Israeli coast, Israel Air Force F-16 fighter jets were scrambled and, after visual confirmation that the aircraft was unmanned, the order was given to shoot it down over the sea.

Israeli officials said that the drone was almost certainly of Iranian design and probably belonged to a special reconnaissance unit operated by Hizbollah under the guidance of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards.

Israeli officials said this week that they are almost certain that Hizbollah intended to use footage shot from the drone as a propaganda coup.

Hizbollah have denied the drone was theirs but Israeli analysts believe that, had it succeeded in entering Israeli airspace, the terrorist movement would have been more than happy to take credit for the operation.