Israel's military said it shot down a drone launched by militants in Gaza on Monday.
A Patriot surface-to-air missile struck down the unmanned aircraft as it passed over the city of Ashdod in southern Israel, the military said according to Fox News. It is the first weapon of its kind to be encountered ever since Israel's offensive began last week.
"Hamas is trying everything it can to produce some kind of achievement and it is crucial that we maintain our high state of readiness," Moshe Yaalon, Israel's Defense Minister, told the Associated Press. "The shooting down of a drone this morning by our air defense system is an example of their efforts to strike at us in any way possible.
Hamas said in a statement Monday it launched three drones at Israel, but Israel said it intercepted only one. The military did not specify what was inside the drone, according to Fox News.
The assault on Gaza began after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed in the West Bank at the end of June. Their murders were immediately followed by the kidnapping of a Palestinian teenage boy, who was found burned to death in a wooded area of east Jerusalem at the beginning of July.
Israel said the offensive, titled "Operation Protective Edge," was launched at the start of last week in response to rockets fired from Gaza, according to the AP. Over 1,300 Hamas targets have so far been hit, while the number of rockets launched by the Palestinian militant group is estimated to be 1,000.
As least 175 Palestinians have been killed as the airstrikes on Gaza continue, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israel has so far suffered no casualties caused by Hamas rockets. The drones, because of their ability to inflict massive damage, could potentially give Hamas the upper hand, the AP reported.
But most of Hamas' weapons have been intercepted before they can inflict damage due to Israel's "Iron Dome" air defense system that shoots them down.
