A defiant Israel vowed on Wednesday to continue controversial flights over Lebanon despite mounting international protests that the action violates the UN-brokered truce that ended this summer's war.
"They can protest for as long as they like. Our reconnaissance flights will continue," said deputy defence minister Ephraim Sneh in response to a question about the fierce international criticism of the flights.
Israeli warplanes on Tuesday carried out intensive mock air raids at low altitude over Beirut and south Lebanon.
The Lebanese army responded by firing off anti-aircraft batteries towards the jets for the first time since a UN-brokered cease-fire came into effect between Israeli forces and Hizbullah on August 14.
"These are not agreed flights but operations carried out to locate enemies, terrorists," said Sneh, a member of Israel's centre-left Labour party who was promoted to deputy defence minister only two days ago.
"The fact there was a cease-fire in Lebanon has not transformed this country into another Switzerland. Hizbullah continues to prepare and arm itself, this is why we have to gather intelligence.
"Things must be very clear: it is only when we have information signalling that arms supplies to Hizbullah coming from Syria have stopped and that our two soldiers have been released that we can talk about a stop to these flights."
The minister was speaking one day after France, which commands the UN peacekeeping force overseeing the truce in Lebanon, and the United Nations urged Israel to halt overflights that they called a violation of the cease-fire.
The Lebanese army also confirmed it had fired off anti-aircraft batteries towards Israeli warplanes flying over the south on Tuesday, having been ordered to oppose Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty by all means.
A UN statement issued in the name of special envoy to Lebanon, Geir Pedersen, condemned the persistent violations of Lebanese air space.
"Geir Pedersen expresses his serious concern at the continuing overflights by Israel which constitute a breach of Lebanese sovereignty and specifically of Security Council Resolution 1701," it said.
Beirut has repeatedly urged the United Nations to stop Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace during the last 30 years, refused by the Jewish state.
Various European countries, including those who have contributed troops to the UN peacekeeping force, have lent voice to the Lebanese demands.
France again came out against the overflights on Tuesday as "contrary to the spirit and the letter of Resolution 1701," a foreign ministry spokesman said.
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has insisted that the overflights will continue until Hizbullah halt what he says is arrant arms smuggling in defiance of the UN truce resolution.