The Shehab suicide drone. Illustrative image.
On May 14th, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas Movement, announced that it had targeted an Israeli chemical plant.
In a brief statement, the Palestinian group said that the plant, which is located in the settlement of Nir Oz, was targeted with a Shehab Suicide drone. The group didn’t provide further details on the attack. However, observers speculated that the target was the Nirlat chemical plant.
Israeli authorities issued drone infiltration alerts in Nahal Oz, as well as in the nearby settlements of Alumim and Be’eri. Nevertheless, no interceptions were reported.
The Shehab suicide drone, which appears to be a downgraded copy of Iran’s Ababil-2, was recently unveiled by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. The drone was used in two attacks on May 12th and 13th. It’s specifications and capabilities are yet to be revealed.
Meanwhile, Palestinian factions continue to launch rockets from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. In the last few hours, several settlements, including Kiryat Malachi, Herzliya and Ashkelon, were targeted with dozens of rockets.
Some of the rockets bypassed the Iron Dome system, which resulted in some material damage. However, no casualties were reported by Israeli sources.
A day earlier, an Israeli woman from a settlement near the city of Ashdod died from an accident resulting from a rocket impact. The death raised the total number of people killed in Israel by Palestinian rocket fire since May 10th to seven. Up to 200 others were injured.
Despite reports of a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip, Israeli operations are still limited to aerial and artillery strikes. This may change soon.
