Small UAV launched from Gaza Strip crashes in Israel

A drone that was sent to Israel from the Gaza Strip on Thursday fell in open territory inside Israel, close to the border fence in the southern Gaza Strip.

Israel had the drone under close surveillance from both the air and the ground the entire time, Channel 2 reported.

The drone put the Air Force on immediate alert once it was spotted on the radar.

Fighter jets were quickly scrambled to the area for fear of a possible terror attack or intelligence-gathering effort, but in the end, no shots were fired.

Army troops picked up the drone and took it away for examination.

Hamas’s military wing took responsibility for launching the UAV.

“We launched several unmanned aerial vehicles to perform special tasks deep within Israel,” a Hamas spokesman said.

Hamas has sent UAVs into Israel from Gaza on several occasions, including during last summer’s war there.

On that occasion, the drone was intercepted by a Patriot missile off the Ashdod coast.

The Lebanese militia Hezbollah has also sent drones into Israel.

In one instance last year, the army said that a Hezbollah drone was intercepted off the coast of Haifa.