Israel says its Iron Dome system downed drone launched from Gaza Strip

Israel's army said Sunday that it had downed a drone that had been launched from the Gaza Strip.

Israel's Iron Dome air defence system intercepted the drone as it flew over the besieged enclave "toward Israeli territory", an army statement read.

Israeli media reported that the aircraft was headed for the Eshkol area bordering Gaza.

Israel claimed last week to have thwarted an operation to smuggle drones into Gaza, a territory Israel has been blockading since 2007.

It said the drones were destined for Hamas, the Islamist group ruling the Gaza Strip. 

Israel deployed drones over the Gaza Strip earlier this month, after it arrested a senior member of the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

Last week, an Israeli drone fell in the Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood in the south of Gaza City. Hamas' military wing claimed to have seized the downed aircraft.