Iran's Press TV on Friday quoted Lebanese President Michel Suleiman as saying that Hezbollah’s ability to send a drone over Israel showed the need for a new national defense strategy that would use the Shiite organization's strength in safeguarding the country.



“The process of dispatching a drone over Israeli enemy territory shows a dire need to approve a defense strategy that would look into the benefits of managing and making use of the resistance’s capabilities,” Suleiman said in an official statement, according to the Iranian news network.
It should be noted that over the years there was a great amount of tension between the official Lebanese establishment and the Hezbollah organization, which accumulated more and more power across the country.



In recent years, after it has became quite a powerful element, senior Lebanese government officials have declared more than once that Lebanon should take advantage of Hezbollah's power and cooperate with the organization, and Suleiman's reported statement joins these declarations.




On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially announced that Hezbollah had sent the drone that entered Israeli airspace. Shortly afterwards, Hezbollah Secretary-GeneralHassan Nasrallah claimed responsibility for launching the drone.



Nasrallah said in an interview with Al-Manar television that "the resistance in Lebanon sent an advanced drone," stressing that the aircraft managed to fly over "a number of important military bases before it was spotted by the Israeli air force."



The Hezbollah chief added that the drone was made in Iran, warning that "this is not the first flight – or the last."



On Friday, Al-Manar released a video clip simulating the flight of the drone aircraft.




It is still unclear whether the video adequately simulates the shape of the aircraft. In the video clip, the drone is equipped with a camera which allegedly managed to take photos of various locations it flew over.



Earlier this week, Yedioth Ahronoth exposed new details on the downing of the drone over Yatir Forest. According to the report, the first missile fired by the F-16 jet missed the drone. The second Panther missile, the IDF's most advanced air-to-air missile, hit the target.







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