Lebanese Defense Minister Elias al-Murr said on Friday that the Lebanese army has received orders to open fire upon all Israeli aircrafts violating Lebanon's sovereignty by entering its airspace, reported the London-based Arab language publication Al Hayat.

In an interview with Al Hayat, al-Murr said "following the retreat of the Israeli enemy, there are two kinds of violations. There are those that occur on the green line, which we will determine next week with the United Nations after the enemy retreats to the positions it held in 2000. As for airspace violations? The army command has received a direct order to open fire upon any aircraft infiltrating Lebanese airspace."

Al-Murr also said that Lebanon is documenting all incidents of violations against its sovereignty, and submitting them to the UN.

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In the interview, al-Murr expressed his hopes that Israel's border violations will cease. "If that doesn't happen, we will use everything in our power against these violations."

He said that in the upcoming months the Lebanese army will obtain state of the art anti-aircraft missiles.

"The Lebanese army has deployed along all Lebanon's borders," the minister said in reference to demands Lebanon monitor its borders in order to prevent the smuggling of arms. Al-Murr said 8,600 troops are currently manning stations along the borders. He added that nothing, not even cigarettes, has been smuggled across Lebanon's border with Syria since the deployment.