Hamas terrorists prepare 'Shehab' explosive drones for launch against Israel, May 15, 2021. (Screenshot)
IDF spots terrorists about to launch a drone at Israel, but the drone instead kills the terrorists.
By Paul Shindman, World Israel News
The IDF said Saturday it spotted a squad of Hamas terrorists about to launch an explosives-laden drone at Israel, but instead had the drone crash onto the two terrorists, killing them.
“The IDF thwarted an attempt by Hamas terror operatives in Gaza City to launch a drone armed with explosives towards Israel. As a result of the downing of the drone, the drone fell on the launch squad and killed two operatives,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement.
The IDF announcement did not specify how the countermeasure was carried out, but according to a State Comptroller’s report on the threat of the drones, as early as 2019 Hamas used drones to drop explosives on IDF forces near the Gaza Strip, Calcalist reported.
As a result, the IDF acquired countermeasures systems to thwart the threat.
In recent years, Israeli defense industries have introduced capabilities for “soft” interception of drones by remote control, which allows the unmanned aircraft to be landed in its entirety so that the IDF can inspect the device, or cause a controlled crashing of the drone.
The interception on Saturday appeared to be the sixth such downing of a Hamas “Shebab” that is equipped with an five-kilogram warhead.
Last week Hamas posted a video on its website showing what appeared to be at least five launchers for the Shehab set up on sand dunes somewhere in Gaza. The drones appear to have a roughly 3 meter (10 foot) wingspan and are controlled with what looks like a radio controlled airplane device.
The Hamas video ends with the slogan “we shall destroy you with a flaming meteor (Shehab),” said the Middle East Media Research Institute, which monitors Arabic and other foreign language broadcasts and translates them to English.
Hamas is not the only terrorist group employing drones against Israel. Last month the IDF brought down a drone flown over the norther border by the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon. Hezbollah and Hamas, both backed by Iran, are known to cooperate on military technology used against Israel.
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