IDF Hits Hamas Targets After Explosive Device Lands in Negev

The IDF carried out a retaliatory air strike in Gaza on Sunday after terrorists from the Hamas-run enclave flew an explosive device into southern Israel.

On Sunday morning, an airborne bomb from Gaza was delivered attached to a large cluster of balloons and a drone-like glider device, landing in a carrot field in the Sdot Negev region.

“IDF attack helicopters struck two military positions belonging to the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip in response to the balloon-borne explosive device, which was launched by a model drone,” the army said.

The targets were two observation posts east of Khan Younis operated by Hamas, the army said. The Palestinian news outlet WAFA said that both positions were “completely destroyed,” but no casualties were reported.

Palestinian media reported that the IDF also hit targets near Jabalia, in northern Gaza, and in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, in the central Strip. The IDF refused to comment on those reports.

Police said the device exploded as a bomb disposal robot examined it. “No injuries were caused; the investigation continues,” police said. The name of a Gazan engineering college was printed on the side of the model drone.

It was not immediately clear how the device made it across the border without being detected and shot down by the IDF, which is on alert for any incoming projectiles.