IDF Shoots Down Drone After It Infiltrates from Gaza

Stand for Israel | July 8, 2019

ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT-GAZA — This picture taken from the southern Israeli kibbutz of Nahal Oz across the border with the Gaza Strip shows an Israeli army drone flying over Palestinian protesters on June 8, 2018. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

It has become almost routine for Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza to fly objects into Israeli territory, be they fiery balloons or even drones. But that doesn’t mean that Israel has to allow it. The Jerusalem Post’s Anna Ahronheim reports that the IDF shot down a drone launched from Gaza into Israeli airspace along the southern border:

A drone which infiltrated from the Gaza Strip and was seen over the community of Zikim was intercepted by the Israeli military and taken in for inspection, the army said on Monday.
The drone was identified by Israeli radar systems as crossing over the border in the northern Gaza Strip, flying near the communities of Karmiya and Zikim and tracked by troops until it was downed.
Its pieces were collected by the IDF and transferred for further inspection, and to determine where it came from and what it had been carrying.
Hamas has sent drones into Israel in the past, leading the IDF to scramble jets or fire missiles. The group is said to have been working on upgrading its UAVs for use in both offensive operations and intelligence gathering.