Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Hamas has flown its first unmanned aerial vehicle into Israel.

The Israeli military said Hamas sent an unidentified UAV into Israeli air space on July 14. They said the UAV flew from the Gaza Strip to the Israeli city of Ashdod south of Tel Aviv before the platform was shot down.

“Israel Defense Forces are currently combing the area of the interception,” the Israel Air Force said.

The Air Force said its Patriot missile division shot down the Hamas UAV. This marked the first time the U.S.-origin Patriot air and missile defense system intercepted a UAV since 1990.

“Hamas is trying everything it can to produce some kind of achievement, and it is crucial that we maintain our high state of readiness,” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said. “The shooting down of a UAV this morning by our air defense system is an example of their efforts to strike at us in any way possible.”

The UAV was launched on the eve of a proposed Egyptian-arranged ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. The ceasefire, approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was meant to begin on July 15 at 9 a.m. Hours earlier, rockets were fired into Israel from Lebanon and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Over the last two years, Israel oversaw a significant upgrade of the PAC-2, developed by Raytheon. Officials said the effort was meant to enhance interception of both ballistic missiles and UAVs.

“Since 2012, there has been a significant upgrade of the system and an adjustment to deal with the latest challenges, among them the interception of unmanned aerial vehicles,” the air force said.

For its part, Hamas said it developed combat, suicide and reconnaissance UAVs. In a statement on July 14, Hamas said the combat UAV, identified as the Iranian-origin Ababil-1, was meant to attack the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, known in Hebrew as Kirya.

“We executed a number of maneuvers over the Kirya in Tel Aviv,” Hamas
said.

  Ahdod, First Hamas drone seen in Israeli air space is shot down, Gaza Strip, Moshe Ya’alon