Hamas Had a Drone, Until Israel Blew It Up This Morning

The escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas entered a new dimension Monday, as Hamas claimed it flew a homemade drone over Israeli airspace, and Israel said it blew that homemade drone right out of the sky.

Hamas claimed the drone had flown several surveillance missions over Israeli military bases before Israel downed the aerial vehicle with a Patriot missile. Israeli officials said there was no evidence the drone was armed, though Hamas claimed it had built a drone for bombing purposes.

RELATED: Netanyahu: ‘We Use Missiles to Defend Civilians, Hamas Uses Civilians to Defend Missiles’

Patriot missiles cost up to $1 million each, so “using a Patriot to shoot down a UAV is like using a shotgun to kill a fly,” per ABC News’ ABC News military consultant Steve Ganyard.

Hamas released footage reportedly taken by a drone, but it was unclear whether it was the same drone Israel shot down; judging from the fact that the drone in the video is armed, likely not. Watch the footage below, via Fox News:

[h/t ABC News]

[Image via screencap]

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