IDF drone crashes in Gaza

The military did not state the circumstances that caused the drone to crash or its type.

By TPS and AP

An IDF drone flying over the Gaza Strip crashed on Wednesday.

The IDF stated that the drone crashed while on an operation and stressed that there is no fear of an intelligence leakage.

The military did not state the circumstances that caused the drone to crash or its type.

Several such incidents have occurred in recent months.

The drones are primarily used for reconnaissance, data collection, and target marking missions.

The incident occurred as news broke that the Islamic terror group Hamas rejected the idea of postponing Palestinian elections ahead of a leadership meeting Thursday in which President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party is expected to push for a delay.

Hamas is expected to perform well in the May 22 parliamentary elections because of widening divisions within Fatah. Seizing on the sensitive issue of voting in east Jerusalem could offer a pretext for Abbas to call off the first Palestinians elections in 15 years.

Israel has not said whether it will allow voting in east Jerusalem but has expressed concern about Hamas’ growing strength. Because Hamas is terrorist group, Western countries would likely boycott any Palestinian government that includes it.

The 85-year-old Abbas and his inner circle of Fatah figures, now in their 60s and 70s, have dominated the Palestinian Authority for nearly two decades. They have failed to advance Palestinian hopes for statehood, heal a 13-year internal rift with Hamas, lift the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza or empower a new generation of leaders.

The last elections, held in 2006, saw Hamas win a landslide victory, which sparked a bloody crisis culminating in Hamas’ seizure of Gaza the following year, which confined Abbas’ authority to parts of Judea and Samaria.