Hamas Shoots Down Israeli Drone in Gaza

RNA - Palestinian media reported that Hamas intercepted and downed the quadcopter drone East of Rafah in Southern Gaza Strip on Monday night. The aircraft’s remains are now in the hands of the resistance forces.

The Israeli military confirmed that a drone fell in Southern Gaza Strip, saying that an investigation into the incident is underway.

The unmanned aerial vehicle is the second aircraft the Israeli army has lost over the past 24 hours.

The Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, had announced it downed an Israeli drone near the Southern border, just days after the group’s leader, Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, vowed that Israel will no longer be allowed to violate Lebanon’s airspace with impunity.

Since late March 2018, tensions have been running high near the Gaza fence - which marked the start of a series of rallies demanding the right to return for the Palestinians driven out of their homeland. Since the start of the border protests, the Israeli Army has killed nearly 330 Palestinian demonstrators and injured over 33,000 in the Gaza Strip.

According to Fars News Agancy, the region has been under Israel’s all-out siege since 2007 and witnessed three wars since 2008. Tel Aviv seven-week-long war in 2014 and two other military operations over the last six years have caused economic losses close to three times the size of Gaza's gross domestic product. The latest onslaught claimed the lives of over 2,200 Palestinians and left over half a million more displaced, with another 11,000 injured in the assault. It also severely damaged more than 20,000 homes, 148 schools, 15 hospitals, and 45 clinics. At least 247 factories and 300 commercial centers were rendered inoperable or totally destroyed in the attack.

847/940