Hamas' armed wing seizes Israeli drone in northern Gaza Strip

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced on Monday that it seized an Israeli reconnaissance drone in the Gaza Strip.

The drone was on a surveillance mission in Beit Hanoun in the northern Palestinian enclave, Al-Qassam said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, said in a statement that its fighters engaged early Monday in fierce clashes with Israeli forces in the eastern and northern parts of Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip.

The National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, reported that its fighters engaged in intense clashes with Israeli forces in the central Khan Younis. The group also claimed that it hit an Israeli vehicle with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).

There has been no comment from the Israeli army on the Palestinian resistance groups' statements.

Israel launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 21,822 Palestinians have since been killed and 56,451 others injured, according to Gaza’s health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio​​​​​​​