"An unidentifiable unmanned aerial vehicle was detected in the vicinity" of the "Ludwigshafen am Rhein" corvette and was "brought down in a controlled manner", an army spokesman said.

The spokesman said he was unable to provide further details for "reasons of operational security".

Andrea Tenenti, a UNIFIL spokesman, confirmed that earlier on Thursday "an unmanned aerial vehicle of unknown origin approached one of UNIFIL's Maritime Task Force ships off the southern Lebanese coast".

"In accordance with procedure, electronic countermeasures were used and the UAV fell and exploded on its own," Tenenti said, adding that UNIFIL was "looking into the matter".

The UN's peacekeeping force in Lebanon has come under repeated fire in the Israeli-Hezbollah war in recent days.

Five peacekeepers were injured in a series of incidents last week, with the latest seeing the UN force accuse Israeli troops of breaking through a gate and entering one of their positions.

The Israeli military has said is not targeting UN peacekeepers, but the incidents have sparked a wave of international criticism.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon to stem Palestinian attacks targeting northern Israel.

The peacekeeping mission includes about 10,000 personnel overall, with its Maritime Task Force focused on preventing arms smuggling by sea.