UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 20 (PNA/Xinhua) — The flight of drones in the airspace over the Golan Heights was a violation of the 1974 ceasefire agreement between Syria and Israel, a UN spokesman said on Monday.
UN peacekeepers stationed in the Golan Heights along the Syrian-Israeli border observed drones coming from the Israeli side before and after an airstrike that killed several top Hezbollah figures.
“The UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) observed two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying from the Alpha side and crossing the ceasefire line” on Sunday, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, when responding to a journalist question.
The Alpha side refers to the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan.
“An hour later, smoke was observed coming from the general direction of Position 30; however, the origin of the smoke could not be identified by the mission,” he said.
“Subsequently, UNDOF observed UAVs flying from the general area of Position 30 and over Jabbata, crossing the ceasefire line,” Haq said. “This incident is a violation of the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israeli and Syrian forces.”
He did not say whom the drones belonged to or whether they appeared to be armed.
Reports said an Israeli helicopter strike in the region on a contingent of Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim militia, killed six members of the organization including a commander. (PNA/Xinhua)