An unmanned Israeli military drone crashed into the mountains near Beirut on Friday, state-run Lebanese media reported.

An Israeli warplane then pounded the area and destroyed the crashed drone, said the reports.

Meanwhile, Israel's best-selling Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on its website that the Israeli army said the drone crashed "apparently as a result of malfunction" and was not shot down by enemy fire.

An Israeli warplane destroyed the drone after it crashed to prevent it from falling into the hands of Hezbollah, the report added.

The massive Israeli assault against Lebanon's Hezbollah entered the 17th day on Friday.

Lebanon said that about 600 Lebanese civilians had been killed in Israeli attacks.

Over 50 Israelis including 18 civilians have also been killed in the conflict which erupted on July 12 following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah guerillas during cross-border attacks.