Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah said they downed an Israeli unmanned aircraft on Monday outside a southern Lebanese town after it crossed the border.

The Israeli drone is now in the possession of Hezbollah's fighters, the group said.

The Israeli military said one of its drones "fell inside southern Lebanon during routine operations." In a statement, it did not say what caused the crash and noted "there is no concern that information could be taken from it."

An Israeli military spokeswoman said it was a "simple drone" without elaborating.

Hezbollah said they had "confronted" the drone with "appropriate weapons" as it was heading toward the southern Lebanese town of Ramyah and it was brought down on the edge of the town.

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The incident follows an escalation in tensions between the two, which included an exchange of fire on September 1.

The Iran-backed Shiite movement said it had fired anti-tank missiles into Israel, destroying a military vehicle and killing or wounding those inside, prompting Israel to return fire.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has blamed Israel for two drones that fell in the suburbs of Beirut on August 24 and vowed the group would target Israeli drones that enter Lebanon's airspace.

Nasrallah said while the flare-up with Israel at the border was over, the episode had launched a "new phase" in which the Iran-backed group no longer had red lines.

(With input from Reuters, AFP)

(Cover: Hezbollah and Israel exchange fire across the Lebanese border, setting fields ablaze and sparking fears of a wider conflict, September 1, 2019. /AFP Photo)