Israel says second weapon-laden drone from Egypt shot down this month

Israeli forces said Tuesday they intercepted a drone carrying weapons from Egypt into southern Israel, the second such incident reported this month amid rising tensions along the border.

The military said in a statement that on Monday surveillance teams detected,a drone entering Israeli airspace in the Paran Brigade area, part of the army’s 80th Division responsible for the frontier with Egypt. Troops shot it down and found it was transporting ten M-16 rifles and ammunition.

"The confiscated weapons were transferred to the security forces for further processing," the army spokesman said. 

Israeli forces reported a similar incident earlier this month, saying they downed a drone carrying four rifles and ammunition in the same region.

Israel has long accused Hamas of using smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border to bring weapons into Palestinian territory. Egypt has denied such claims, emphasizing that it destroyed and flooded cross-border tunnel networks years ago and reinforced its border with a buffer zone and additional security measures.

In October 2024, Israeli forces intercepted two drones allegedly carrying firearms that had crossed from Egypt. In a separate development in February, the army said it conducted a ground operation in Gaza targeting individuals it claimed were attempting to retrieve drones that had crossed into Palestinian areas.

The Israeli military resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18, following a breakdown of a ceasefire agreement that began in January. The deal, brokered after months of negotiations, was intended to exchange detainees held by Hamas for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. However, Israel resumed military operations without fulfilling the withdrawal terms.