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JERUSALEM (AP) - For the first time in at least six years, a hostile aircraft has penetrated Israel's airspace.

Israel's military says it scrambled fighter jets today to intercept a drone that crossed deep into Israel from the Mediterranean Sea. Officials say the Israeli jets shot the aircraft down over Israel's southern desert.

It's not clear who launched the drone, but suspicion is focusing on the Lebanese Islamic militant group Hezbollah. The group is known to have sent drones into Israeli airspace on several previous occasions.

Hezbollah is backed by Iran. And tensions are high between Iran and Israel over Tehran's nuclear program, which the West believes is cover for the development of atomic weapons.

An Israeli military spokesman says Israeli ground systems detected the drone, and that Israeli jets then escorted it before the decision was made to bring it down in the mostly uninhabited area.