URGENT: Hamas seizes israeli drone in Gaza

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, has seized an Israeli reconnaissance drone in Gaza Strip’s Shejaiya district.

According to media reports, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades announced the capture of the “Zionist reconnaissance plane” via a message posted on its Arabic Twitter account on Monday.

In a separate statement, the brigades reportedly added that in addition to capturing the drone, Hamas fighters have also “continued to pound enemy positions and cities with dozens of rockets” in response to “Israeli crimes against our people and ongoing barbaric aggression on our people in Gaza.”
The statement further said the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades would “not remain silent on the crimes of the occupation” and that it would make Israel “pay a high price for its aggression, and think a thousand times before embarking on any aggression against our people.”

The development comes as at least four Palestinians were killed in fresh Israeli airstrikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The raids which targeted an area in Gaza City on Monday also left a number of other Palestinians injured.

Earlier in the day, an assault on the Rafah border crossing wounded several Gazans.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army said 71 rockets fired from Gaza struck the Israeli south on Monday.

More than 2,130 Palestinian, including around 570 children, have been killed since Israel launched its onslaught on Gaza on July 8. Some 11,000 others have been wounded.

Tel Aviv says 68 Israelis have been killed in the conflict so far, but Hamas puts the number at more than 150.

Palestinian authorities say the coastal enclave is suffering from a serious shortage of medical supplies.