A reconaissance aircraft made a 20-minute intrusion over the Syrian-controlled Bekaa valley in the east of the country on New Year's Day morning, the army said.

On New Year's Eve another plane made a two-hour overflight from the coastal Saadiyat region, 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of the capital, across to Bekaa and then south across the UN-patrolled border.

In early December, the United Nations had hailed a decline in Israeli violations. The previous month it issued a strong condemnation of the Jewish state for its peristent intrusions into Lebanese airspace since its pullout from the south of the country in May 2000.

WAR.WIRE